Runaway mudboy
by Bookworm2700
Summary: Artemis Fowl is a genius. Not a father. But when his parents die in a car crash, he is parenting the twins. His whole world seems to be crashing down on him, so he runs away. But years later his friends find him with a new family, can they accept it? And who has been lurking in the shadows all these years, waiting for just this moment to strike? Find out in, Runaway Mudboy. R&R plz
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**** I am not Eoin Colfer. Therefore I do not own the Artemis Fowl series. He does. No matter how much I love authors, sometimes they just plain suck! Because they managed to create a story I am now obsessed. Ugh!**

Artemis Fowl was a boy genius. A mud boy. A boy. He was not a father. But somehow he managed to become one to two little boys. No, not that way. He became a father to his twin brothers Myles and Beckett when Angeline and Artemis Fowl Senior had died in a car crash. Legally, Artemis was an adult, which is why he was given his twin brothers to raise. Physically, he looked no more than fifteen. And at the moment, that was just how he felt.

Artemis sat in his study, wondering how he was going to work through this problem. _That's right Artemis. Just think of this as a problem. There is always and answer to every problem. _He told himself but as he sat in his study and tried to figure out how he was going to run the Fowl empire, pay all his employees, take care of Myles and Beckett, deal with the fairy people, and his complex. He had finally admitted to Holly that he did have feelings for her, and she had not answered him. She just walked out and said that she would have an answer for him the next day. Well it was a week later and Artemis had received no contact from Holly and he now believed that this was the end of their friendship.

It had been good while it lasted, and as Artemis sat there, he thought about what he would do if this had been him a year ago. He would have stood up and called Holly, been brave or just ignored her until she talked to him. However that was before he lost his parents, and before he went insane, before he had to worry.

Artemis stood up from his desk to go check on the twins who had been crying constantly. As he walked downstairs to the playroom he saw Butler, Juliet, Foaly, Mulch, and Holly. They were talking and Artemis got a odd feeling that he wasn't supposed to hear this conversation. So he crept closer to the kitchen doorway.

"I don't think he is stable to take care of the twins, Dom." Juliet said and Artemis gasped. He had always trusted Juliet like a sister.

"I know Juliet." came Butler's gruff reply. " He is weak and if something or someone attempted to hurt him or the twins, he couldn't protect them. I hate to say it, but I know it must be said. He would never socialize with them either, he was never one to pay much attention to children." Artemis always thought of Butler as a sort of father like figure to him and found it insulting that no one thought he was capable of protecting himself or anyone else.

Mumbled reply's of agreement came from the members who sat at the kitchen island.

"At the moment, I don't even know if Art is strong enough to take care of himself, much less two children. He was never a very strong person. He was a load to carry around during our adventures." Foaly said as he readjusted his tin-foil alien protecting cap.

Artemis moved backwards, eyes wide with horror and realization. Nobody cared about him. They could go on without him. They just thought he was some extra weight to carry around and that he was never capable of taking care of himself. As he was moving backwards, Artemis knocked over a priceless vase and the pottery shattered to the floor with a sickening crack, letting everyone in the kitchen know that he was there.

Artemis began running down the hall and hid in a secret passage he had used many years ago. He hid there while Butler, Juliet,Mulch and Holly ran down the hallway, looking for signs of an attack. Foaly was attempting to look up, but was to entranced by a apple sitting on the table. Artemis sprinted to his room, and even though he was not fast, he was in his study and sat down on the chair breathlessly. His friends thought he was weak. Everyone he truly cared about thought he was weak and couldn't take care of himself.

_I'll show them._ Artemis thought and began to pack his bags and ran to get the twins.

When Juliet Butler got home from the grocery store, she was greeted by a silent house. The twins weren't crying, nor was Artemis throwing things in an attempt to figure out a problem that she knew he never would.

So she was only slightly worried, and as she brought in the grocery's to the Fowl mansion kitchen, she found a note. Juliet set down the bags with ease, accidentally knocking out a bowl of caviar she was going to make so Artemis would feel better.

She picked up the sealed caviar can and placed it on the counter so she could read the note. All of her instincts told her to go look for Artemis, but she found that the note had pulled her in and she was already reading it. She had to re-read it nineteen times in exactly the next five minutes and three seconds. She counted.

She ran around the house nine separate times, looking at every single square inch or the Fowl Manor. Not a soul was there. The playroom was deserted, and a good amount of the Fowl boy's belongings were vacant from their usually drawers. Later, Juliet would find that 10,000 dollars had been extracted from Artemis's private bank account and that a plane had been taken to Tokyo with a boy who looked exactly like Artemis and the twins on it.

But at that moment, Juliet took out her phone with trembling fingers ( which had a beautiful coat of pink nail polish I may add) and dialed a number.

"Hello Juliet. Why would you be calling at this Un -Godly hour? I am in the dojo and it is late. Shouldn't you be helping Artemis with the..." However Butler was not allowed to finish because Juliet breathed the words as follows.

"Artemis ran away."

"What?!" Butler screeched and then dropped the phone and ran to the car.

He got several speeding tickets later.

Artemis Fowl was reported a missing person, and so were Beckett and Myles. He could not be charged with kidnapping since he was guardian of the twins. Butler moved away and gave up hope after five years of searching for a criminal master mind who could hide almost anywhere if he wanted to.

Juliet attempted to fight a little longer, but soon gave up along with her brother.

The people, especially Holly, tried for years, but some how the beloved mud boy had gotten away. Foaly couldn't find him, and neither could any other of the LEP techies. Holly Short was the only one who never gave up hope on the mud boy- mud man now. Artemis would be twenty- five now, legally, but he would look only twenty-two. Holly tried for years to get back the mud boy, but found that when Artemis Fowl junior didn't want to be found, he didn't want to be found and stayed hidden. It must have been had for him, and none of the searchers knew exactly why the Fowl boy had run away, so it aggravated them more.

Holly finally set down her hopes of finding Artemis and was going to shut off the last computer monitor, when a blinking red light flashed across the screen.

It read one name, and one location.

_Remis Loan Fuior, Jamestown Pennsylvania._

Artemis Fowl Junior.

Some letters were missing but that was just fine. Instantly Holly turned on all the computers and placed phone calls to everyone who had been at Fowl Manor when Artemis Fowl had gone missing.

_I finally found you Arty! _

Her enthusiasm would be short lived.

The first time Artemis Fowl met Penelope Freewater was when he was going to college. He had run away from home because of reasons he did not like to talk about. So he had to get a job and the one way to get that job without drawing attention to himself was to go to college. He and the twins lived in a apartment, not the luxury Artemis wanted, but would have to do if he wanted to stay hidden. So he had moved to the sleepy little town of Jamestown in Pennsylvania.

He worked part time as a mechanic after taking a sudden interest in cars after talking to one of his few friends who was a mechanic in the town and offered him a job. He needed to pay for the twins so he took it, learning how to fix a car, and worked at a library part time. This was how he managed to keep the twins in school and pay for his own college. This was not what Artemis had usually done, nor did he like it, but it kept him away from everyone that was searching for him, and payed the bills. Sometimes if he had to, he would use the bank account money he had taken from his safe and sell some jewelry. He had renamed himself with an alias and proved new names for Beckett and Myles, but hoped they would not remember their real names.

He had become rock cold, always determined to prove himself, at least until he met Penelope.

She was beautiful. Artemis was lucky to have her, and was glad he did. He still remembered the first day they had met, with her walking into the classroom that Artemis had been in that very day.

_Flashback.._

_ Artemis sat at one of the desks that sat in a half circle facing the teacher. It was an arena like room, with the teacher being lower on the ground, and the students high up in rising steps like stands. A door was placed by the teacher and a door was placed at the top were Artemis sat in the "back" of the room. This was a history class, for advanced pupils, and Artemis had easily qualified for the part. He had said that he was eighteen when three years had passed from when he ran away at fifteen (_**A/N: He lied and said he was eighteen three years after he ran away)**_. So when the girl walked in late to class, Artemis was happy for a distraction. _

_ The girl appeared at the bottom of the odd half circle classroom and handed the teacher, Mr. Griffin, a blue slip stating why she was late and that she was excused. A few wolf whistles were let out and Artemis ignored his classmates whistles of how pretty the girl was._

_ "Ah, Penelope You can take a seat next to Mr. Fuior, up in the back." A few boys let out groans of disappointment, but Artemis continued to look down at his notes. The girl walked up the steps to the fifth row were Artemis sat alone._

_ "Hi, whats your name?" Questioned Penelope, and it was then that Artemis looked up to see the angel before him._

_ She had long brown-blonde hair that was tied up in a ponytail that guided the hanging hair down to mid back. The girl was tall, and had eyes that refused to make a decision on whether or not to be blue, green, or brown. So Artemis decided to call them a hazel color. She was wearing skinny jeans, a t-shirt and a tan knitted sweater that reached mid thigh. She was a modest girl, Artemis realized, but like most people, he couldn't see what she was really. Quickly jumping back into reality, Artemis composed himself and held out a hand. _

_ "Remis. Remis Fuior. It is a pleasure to meet you..." He trailed off not knowing what to call the girl. She laughed and took a seat in the chair next to Artemis and Artemis nearly fainted from hearing her laugh. It was what he imagined heaven to feel like._

_ "Penelope Freewater. Just call me Penny." And so he did. They became close friends, and she had bought an apartment just one floor under his as it turned out. They both tried to deny feelings that they had for each other. They had almost all their classes together and were stuck in the same boat with no parents and younger siblings to take care of. Penny had two, Lina and Cameron who were sisters who closely resembled their elder, and were only one year apart, Lina was Beckett and Myles's age, Cameron only a year younger. Eventually, when the two friends admitted they liked each other, they went out for a year before finally Artemis asked for Penelope's hand in marriage._

_ When they both said "I do." at a church with only their closest friends, they seemed like the happiest people in the world. Penny showed Artemis that he didn't need to care about what other people thought and how to make friends. Artemis taught her how to crunch numbers and helped her in math. She was an artist, he a mechanic and would eventually get a fully time job as a teacher when he was twenty one, after graduating a year earlier than the rest of his classmates.  
>Both of the couple taught each other new things and lived in a small condo in the town, and raised their siblings like they were their own children.<em>

_ I can live like this. Artemis thought as he watched his wife put their siblings to bed._

However, Artemis didn't care that he had left behind so many people, he just lead on life. Little did he know that those same people were still as persistent as they had always been and would be entering his life very, very soon.

**Hello dearies! I have come to say that I do not own anything that Eoin Colfer has already come up with. I hate saying that but... whatever. All rights belong to him, blah blah blah. **

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	2. Chapter 2: Foul or Fowl and cookies!

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own anything from this series except the OC'S and the plot. All the rest belongs to Eoin Colfer. Ugh. Grrrrr. I'm updating this early because I was super sick! It sucked! So here is another chapter.**

Artemis Fowl was sitting at his desk in his and Penny's room when he heard the doorbell ring. Penny was about to leave for a trip to the grocery store and she always allowed the kids to get a cookie at the store. Even though they were nine, the twins still loved cookies, like any kid, but still kept some of their old traits from back at fowl manor, like Beckett calling him a simple-toon, and Myles still had his scientist monkey.

"I got it Remis!" Shrieked nine-year-old Beckett and then Artemis heard the door unlock and Beckett's rude, "Who are you?" then a, "Remis. Some people are here to see you!" Artemis heaved a sigh and got up from his desk. He walked out into the living room, and expected to see one of his colleagues from work at the door, but he was greeted by five faces he hadn't seen in seven years.

When Butler first received the call from Holly that Artemis Fowl was alive and she knew where he was, he had hung up the phone and went back to reading his Norwegian romance novel that he had gotten from a bookstore in Norway.

Holly attempted to call him six more times until he finally picked up on the seventh call.

"Hello Holly." Butler said but Holly didn't notice anything he said but instead got straight to the point.

"I found Artemis and I even have proof. Call up Foaly and ask him if you don't believe me. Meet me at Fowl Manor for more information at six o'clock tonight."

The line went dead and Butler called Foaly to see if it was true. He looked at the clock and saw that he had three hours to pack and board a plane to Ireland.

Each person was different, even Minerva was called, and Mulch didn't pick up. So they met at Fowl Manor and Holly showed the Butlers, Minerva and Foaly the alias Artemis had used all these years. Holly also pointed out how Remis Fuior had popped up in Jamestown a week after Artemis ran away.

"What are we waiting for?" Asked Juliet who was twirling her blonde pony tail with the jade ring woven into it. "Let's go find him!"

Later she would would realize that that had not been a good idea.

Now those five people stood in Artemis Fowl's doorway with a holographic body that only Artemis would recognize. Butler heard the boy gasp and smirked, knowing that he had finally found his employer. However, the boy quickly regained himself and connected his thoughts into one.

"Hello. Who are you?" Asked Artemis innocently, wrapping his toned, yet still skinny arms around Beckett's shoulders.

"Don't play that game with us Fowl." Snarled Foaly who was a bit angrier than the rest of the group.

"I'm sorry but if you are looking for a Fowl, there is a man who's named Trent Foul down the street. I can give you-" Artemis was beginning to point down the hallway when Butler grabbed him by the shirt and hissed,

"Artemis. Why. Are. You. Playing. These. Mind. Games?" Questioned Butler, throwing him against a wall, and bunching up the shirt up, pinning him down like a animal head on a plaque. But Artemis was underestimated, as most people did with him. Butler was still strong, but years of not training had weakend him.

Artemis grabbed Butler's wrist and twisted it in a death grip and kicked him as hard as he could in the shin. Butler, not expecting the violent attack, jerked backwards.

"I should call the police on you for harassing me," Artemis said, taking two long strides and wrapping his arms around a shaking Beckett. "However I just wish for you to leave."

"But Artemis let us-" Holly began, taking a calmer approach than Butler but was cut off by Beckett beginning to sob into Artemis's sweatshirt. HE looked up with a look that none of the beings in the hallway knew, or had seen before on the Fowl boys face. It was agony, and rage.

"Leave. Do you not see how much pain you are causing my family by being here? I don't know who you are but you need to go." Artemis said and shut the door in their shocked faces.

Artemis went back inside and stood there to see Penny, Cameron, Myles, and Lina all staring at him. Penny was the first to speak as Artemis began to walk into the living room with Beckett walking along side him.

"Remis, who were those people?" She asked and Artemis sighed as if he didn't know a thing. He was still shocked that they had found him, and right after he had thought he was going to be happy for the rest of his life.

"I don't know, Pen. But I sent them away and they won't bother us anymore. You all are okay aren't you?"

"Yes Rem. We are okay, but what about you?" Penny always loved to ask questions and Artemis hated lying to her.

"I'm okay. I just wanted to make sure you were all safe. I couldn't let complete strangers come into our home, especially when they thought I was some Fowl person. I think they thought I was Trent from down the hall."

Penny laughed as Artemis pulled her close and buried his face in her hair.

"I can't believe they thought you were an old man. You don't play cricket and drink tea!" Penny managed to laugh out and Artemis tensed as he realized that he used to be like that. But he quickly pushed the thought away as he also realized that he had walked away from that life a long time ago. Seven years ago to be exact, but he didn't want exact right now. He just wanted to live his life with his wife and their siblings. He could live like that for a long time. He didn't, however, know how long that would last with these new visitors from his past showing up.

Juliet, Butler, Minerva, and Holly all sat in the car that Butler had rented only hours before. Butler was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that Juliet had to pry his fingers off it to make sure they would not have to explain why the steering wheel had broken off.

"Why?" Butler asked, not knowing how to react to the experience he had just had.

"I don't know?" Holly whispered and if Butler was in pain, Holly was nearly dead.

"Why? Why would he pretend not to be himself, and why would he be so... so different? So strong? He was so weak last time he was with us. Now look at him." Butler moaned, slamming his head against the steering wheel with such force that the airbag almost blew up in his face. He had also honked the car horn incredibly loud.

"Dom, these things must have happened for a reason. Everything does. But we need to talk to him and you nearly taking off his head will NOT help any of us in this case." Juliet said, attempting to calm her brother down.

"I agree with Juliet. I know Artemis, genius to genius. He must have felt weak when he left so he made himself strong. He didn't take good care of the twins in the years before so he is trying to become almost like a father figure to them. And he didn't have a person to rely on or love like he does that girl in the doorway. Something happened that made him change and become like that. And we need to figure out why." Minerva said and everyone else nodded, a plan already forming in each and every one of their devious minds.

Artemis was waiting for Penny to get back from the grocery store with the kids. He was making dinner, chicken nuggets for the the kids and some chicken for him and Penny. He soon got a call from Penny to set the table for two more that night in their small condo. So he did and was lucky enough to have extra chicken and room at the table for two.

The key in the door is what startled Artemis the most as he got up from the couch and stood up, straightening his Jamestown strikers sweatshirt, and jeans.

"Remis! I'm home!" Penny cried out while carrying a pile of brown grocery bags and opening the door to the squealing kids and their cookies. Artemis quickly grabbed a few of the brown bags and led Penny inside.

"Ty,** (A/N: This is the name for Beckett that Artemis used to hide them. And ****the next one is Myles.) **Luke, Lina and Cam. I'm happy you guys are here but I really need you to help Penny with the grocery's." Artemis said before the kids got to into playing their games.

"Okay Remis!" They said, but Myles was still as tricky and devious as ever.

"Only if we get two cookies after dinner and two bed time stories." Myles said proud of getting them a chance at more cookies and stories.

Artemis laughed and placed a kiss on top of Myles's blonde curls. "You should be able to help your elder, Myles." Artemis says and Penny gives a satisfied nod, then begins to unpack grocery's while the kids and Artemis walk back to the car. Artemis then winks at the kids and whispers in as low of a voice as he can. "I'll sneak in some cookies and a story for you tonight but don't tell Penny." But then the kitchen curtains draw back from the window over the sink to where Penny was standing over the sink, with the windows open.

"I heard that Remis!" She shrieked and Artemis quickly began to run towards the car, which was a small navy blue Saturn. All the kids began to run too and soon they were tripping over one another which ended up in a game of wrestling and then left Artemis to get the grocery's.

When he walked back in, Penny didn't turn around and continued to put food away. Artemis strolled up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Hey." He purred in her ear and she laughed as she turned around and slapped him on the chest.

"Remis you scared the living crap out of me you son of a gun!" She said and Artemis faked a guilty little "I got caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar." look.

"Do not give me that look Remis Fuior. No, No, No. Ugh. I'm sorry-" She was cut off when Artemis placed his lips on hers and she wrapped her tan arms around his neck.

"EEWWWWW!" Shrieked the kids who had appeared in the wooden doorway.

"Well why did you come in here then if you don't like it?" Artemis questioned and Myles just looked at him, horrified.

"My eyes! My sweet, poor, innocent, eyes! Someone save me." He screamed and placed a muddy hand over his eyes,pretending to faint.

"Drama queen." mumbled Artemis and then he thought of something. He told the kids to close their eyes and not open them until he said to.

He hid small slips of ripped up paper around the house with writing on them. He told the kids to open their eyes and he handed them a paper slip that led to a location and that to another location and so on.

"It's a scavenger hunt." Artemis said and then he whispered quietly to the group of kids who had surrounded him. " And it leads to a very special treasure at the end. Now you need to finish this before dinner is over. Or I won't give you the prize. Dinner starts at five o'clock so I would get going, short ones." Artemis said and the kids ran off and Penny came sauntering up to him, her hair slightly covered in flour for she had been making a cake for the special guests that were coming over at five.

"What did you do to make them run out all their energy before dinner?" She asked and Artemis chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, laying his chin on her head.

"I sent them on a scavenger hunt."

"I see. And to where might I ask, may this scavenger hunt take place?" Penny asked as she buried her head into Artemis's chest.

"In our back yard and at the end, there is a magical prize." Artemis teased her as he nuzzled his head in her hair.

"Cookies?"

"Cookies."

"Now, Mr. Fuior. Where were we?" Penny asked as the spring wind whipped her hair across her face and into her eyes. Artemis gently brushed it out of the way and whispered,

"Right. About. Here." And he leaned forward and kissed her in the doorway to their house, unaware they were being watched.

Artemis had changed into a nicer shirt and jeans to greet these new guests. Under Penny's orders of course and the kids were forced to take a bath and dress in nice clothes also.

So when the doorbell rang, Artemis was expecting someone that he would probably know. But it was not so.

Instead, he was greeted by two familiar faces that he had seen earlier in the day.

"Remis, aren't you going to say hello?" asked Penny from the kitchen.

"Yeah, Arty." said one of the blonde figures in the door.

"Hello." he told Minerva and Juliet.

Well. He didn't expect this.

(This scenario would later be recorded in a book by Holly Short about the times when Artemis Fowl had no idea what to do, say, think and did not expect something for once.)

**Fowl Star 57- I actually hadn't thought about Penelope Clearwater from Harry Potter, I just sort off came up with it on my own for Penny. Brain fart!Thanks for reviewing!**

** Pearlgirl97- Thank you for being supportive and reviewing! Also thanks for the tip on getting words to flow better. I was actually editing one of my notebook stories and used that helpful information to catch little stinkers like that! Your review meant so much to me. *That was very heartfelt from me. You wont see that often!***

** Bkaddictjk- Thanks for reviewing and even though the review thing a ma bob doesn't show it, I still think of you as the first reviewer! :) Also I might add some Holly and Artemis in there somewhere.**

** Cjp915- Thanks for the support of reviewing! It means a lot to me.**

** - Thank you for reviewing. It gives me the strength to keep writing this!**

** And that goes out to every reviewer! This is what makes me want to keep writing this story! So what do you think? Should I have Artemis and Holly together? Or Artemis and Penny? I DON'T KNOW! Anyway, thanks for reviewing and every single one counts to me. **

** Random fact of the day!-Las Vegas means The meadows in Spanish! I know not the best one but Nevada also means snow in Spanish- learned that in Spanish course. You are all so impressed aren't you.**

** Read.**

** Review.**

** Enjoy.**

** Mistakes may be common, so please leave a review or pm to tell me what I didn't pick up. Thanks to all of you who have read this story and reviewed!**

** -Bookworm2700**


	3. Chapter 3: Dinner and slightly insane

**Disclaimer:**** Anything own don't I.. also translated as I don't own anything spelled backwards.**

Dinner was silent and one of the most awkward moments Artemis Fowl had ever experienced in his entire life time.

"So. Minerva what do you do for a living?" Asked Penny as she attempted to start a conversation with the guests.

"I am an inventor. I also work in a Irish secret service. It is quiet a fun job." Minerva said and Penny nodded with fake enthusiasm that Minerva could see right through, but acted as if nothing was wrong.

"How about you Juliet?" Penny asked, as she quickly stopped a food fight that had broken out between the children at the table.

"I am a professional wrestler. I love what I do." Juliet said, swinging her blonde ponytail with the jade ring in it around her index finger.

Penny seemed to show more interest in Juliet's career than she did Minerva's, and nodded her head. Artemis smiled and let out a small snort at the awkwardness surrounding the table.

Penny shot him a look that made him stop mid snort, and quietly eat his peas before beginning to ask in a quiet voice, "How did you meet these fine people Penny?" and Penny looked at him oddly, but it was quickly replaced with a smile. Artemis loved that smile.

"I met them at the grocery store when I was there with Cammie, Lina, Luke and Ty. They helped me with the bags after these little pranksters refused too. They said that they knew you, Remis." Penny responded, and ruffled Beckett's blonde hair and he angrily pat it back down before returning to a intense discussion on what cookie was better; Classic chocolate chip, or M&M. Decisions, Decisions, thought Artemis, and silently laughed before returning to his food.

He however was troubled when Juliet twirled her blonde ponytail around her finger and smirked at Artemis.

"Remis and I go waaaay back." She said and Penny looked almost confused, and hurt.

_She must be thinking that we dated. _Artemis thought and so he decided to put a stop to his wife's misjudgment.

"Yes. Juliet was a neighbor of mine. Mother and father would always ask her to babysit me." Artemis stated, seeing relief wash over Penny's beautiful face.

"Oh. So how did you meet Minerva?" asked Penny innocently.

_If only you knew how much your curiosity is hurting me. _Artemis thought, another lie forming in the back of his mind.

"She was also a neighbor. We used to hang out when we were younger." Artemis spoke smoothly as if it were the truth. Which it of course, it wasn't.

"Yes. We were quiet good friends, weren't we Rem? What ever happened to that?" asked Minerva, waiting for Artemis Fowl to weasel his way out of this problem.

"My family and I moved away when I was ten, a couple of years later, mother and father had the twins, and then they died in that car crash." Artemis said, sadness creeping into his voice. Penny looked at him with sympathy, resting a tan hand on his pale arm.

"You don't have to talk about it Remis." She said quietly so that the guests wouldn't hear. However they did, due to the fact that one was a highly trained kick butt woman, and the other was a super genius, who, judging by the look on the mans face, knew he was ad and that could only be the accident.

"No its fine Penny. Lets just keep eating." Penny nodded and continued to attempt a conversation, but to no avail. So she decided on keeping the kids tame.

"Quiet a handful you have there, don't you?" Juliet said and Penny laughed, making Artemis's heart melt.

"Yeah. They are a lot to deal with, do you have any children of your own Juliet?" Penny asked and Artemis quickly tuned in to see what he had missed.

Juliet chuckled and shook her head, causing her hair to flail around her head. "No, No, but I am expecting one soon." she said placing her hands on her stomach, Penny giggled, and soon the girls were all talking about whatever girls talk about Artemis supposed. He was in shock that his former body guard was pregnant, but then he realized that life waits for no one, and he was no exception. He had to get over the fact that the world kept spinning, even without his plans to interfere and not everyone would wait for him in this life.

Artemis began to clean up from the dinner, after all the girls were out in the living room laughing and having some cake.

"Hey Remis?" asked Myles and Artemis turned to look at the young boy at his side.

"Yes Luke?" Artemis responded and the boy shuffled around his sneakers, worn out from running.

"Why do those two seem so familiar? I mean know that we grew up here after mom and dad died, but I know them. I just can't say how. " The boy snuffled and Artemis saw that he was on the verge of crying because he was trying so hard to remember. "Are they connected to mom and dad? Did mom and dad just abandoned us, because those girls seem to think so. Why does everything have to be so hard?!" wailed the boy.

Artemis sighed and got down on his knees, eye level to Myles. The plates were set on the counter and everyone else seemed to get caught up in life, but time stopped for the two. "Luke. I have been your older brother for nine years, I know that life can be scary and that everything can be difficult to understand sometimes, but I love you no matter what. Mom and dad would NEVER even think about leaving us, God just had other plans for them. And those girls... well they did come to visit us a few times at our old neighborhood. You were young and I didn't expect you to remember this." Artemis placed his forehead on the younger boys, putting his hands on the child's shaking shoulders. "Lina, Cammie, Beckett, Penny and I are your family, and mom and dad are watching you from up above, and they are so proud of you, Luke. I love you. Ty loves you, Penny loves you, and mom and dad love you... You are a smart child, so nothing should ever be to hard for you." Artemis said and Myles fell shaking into him, but eventually came out of his elders shirt and smiled slowly and sadly, wiping away tears with his sleeve.

"Thanks Remis. That really helped. Can I help you with the dishes?" asks Myles and Artemis smiles down at him and grabbed his hand, leading him to the sink.

"Sure. Now..."

Artemis soon falls away from dishes and instead to tickling his brother.

~.~.~.~

Minerva watches from the living room, thinking about how far Artemis Fowl has come from. A boy who had no idea how to be a parent, to a man who was the person that every little kid would want to bring in for show and tell. Minerva would always tickle her younger brother, and now he was gone. She had thought that they wouldn't hurt him, but now he was dead. They said they wouldn't hurt him if she completed a simple mission, but she had failed. Now she had to pay the price.

~.~.~.~

Artemis was in the twins room. Minerva, Juliet and Penny were down stairs, discussing baby names he thought.

"Remis! Remis! Earth to Remis. Can we read Harry Potter now?!" asked the ever impatient Beckett and Artemis chuckled, quickly getting up to grab the book off the shelf.

The girls had also gathered around the pale boy for their story. These children had recently gotten into this Harry Potter series and demanded a chapter every night.

Today they were on _**Harry Potter and the Chamber of secrets **_which Artemis had to admit was quite good. It was a bout a British boy named Harry and he was a wizard, blah blah blah.

As Artemis read the chapters, he began to act out he voices and even brought out broomsticks and wands ( also known as the brooms from downstairs and twigs from the backyard.) The kids began to pick roles, Artemis was narrator and Beckett was Harry, Lina was Hermione, Cammie was Ginny, and Myles was a odd fellow named Ron. Soon they were acting out scenes with Artemis reading them a loud, but then they came to a part were a teacher named Professor McGonigal. They didn't have another girl to act out the part so they were stuck, until Penny burst into the room.

"Did someone call for an extra part?" She asks smiling and striking a ridiculous pose and plucking a wand from her pocket.

"Ah, hello Professor! These students have been very bad.. staying up all night! Should we let Filch hang them by their toes?"

"Or maybe.. send them out into the forbidden forest?" Penny suggests and the two cackle evilly.

The kids shriek and scramble to hide, but soon come out to finish the chapter.

"Goodnight evil one." Artemis said to Myles and kissed his forehead, pulling the covers up to the young boys chin.

"Goodnight Remis!" He calls and Artemis moves to the bed next to Myles's.

"And goodnight to you, evil two." He smiles and kisses the other boys forehead, pulling the covers up to Beckett's chin.

"Night night Remis!" Beckett says and flips over on his side.

"Love you itty bitty."

"Night too tall!" called back the twins in unison.

Artemis shut off the light, letting the room be filled with the darkness and the small glow from the nightlight.

~.~.~.~

Minerva watched as Artemis said good night to his brothers, as he kissed his wife and began to sleep. He later woke up in cold sweat, obviously from a bad dream, he would have screamed, but instead took one look at the woman next to him, and decided to spare her the torture. Instead he gets up and places sneakers on his feet, and grabs a small ipod, putting the buds in his ears and locking the door to the house.

This would be the perfect time to take him to Foaly, Butler, Holly, Mulch, and Juliet, but she decides she should give him a chance to talk and explain. They hadn't gotten anything out from the wife, Penny. He loved her and she loved him, that much was obvious and those kids were like their own children. They would both die to protect them, that might just work to their advantage, not the people she was working with now, and even that could be used against them.

Minerva easily followed Artemis down the streets, driving stealthily in a long black car. He was a faster runner than she remembered, of course, from what she knew, he had never been good at any sports for that matter. But when he began to run faster, she saw just how difficult he could make this. She slowed the car to a stop as he rested his hands on his knees, his breath icy against the air, coming out in sharp gasps. She opened the door to the car and stepped out, her heels clacking against the pavement.

"Hello Artemis." She said softly. He tensed up, and slowly turned around towards her.

"Aren't you Minerva? That one that was over at my house. And by the way, my name is not Artemis, its Remis-" he was cut off by Minerva.

"Oh, I know who you are. You are Artemis Fowl, boy genius. You have two younger brothers, Myles and Beckett. They are twins and your parents died when you were eighteen. You had the Atlantis Complex, but it was cured by the fairy people, who you have known since you were twelve. You kidnapped Holly Short, held her hostage, and gave her back to her people for gold. You teamed up with the fairy people to save your father in the Arctic and destroy Opal Kiobi. Yo-" Minerva was cut short by Artemis screaming.

"You are LYING! Lies, lies, lies! I love my family, I don't know who you are talking about... but he sounds messed up." Artemis began to run... into the huge chest of Butler.

"Hello Artemis." said the hulking mass of muscle.

Artemis stumbled backwards, and found he was trapped in an alley, Juliet, and Butler blocking one side, Minerva behind him.

"Now Artemis, I don't want to have to take you and question you by force. But we will to get you to tell the truth. By force or on your own free will, you choose." Minerva said and he shut his eyes and then they shot open, his body un - tensing.

"You say you all know so much about me, so you should know one thing."

"And what would be that."

"I never go down without a fight." And with that, Artemis jumped on top of a dumpster, grabbed a fire escape ladder, and began to climb, pulling it up before anyone could follow. Butler and Juliet surged into action, following Artemis, grabbing the ladder, swing onto the buildings roof, and chasing the boy over the roof. Then they saw how it ended and began to slow down, but Artemis didn't. He kept running, and running over a huge gap between the buildings before he stopped, looked down and looked back up.

"Its over Artemis! Just come with us, please. I don't want to hurt you and for once I don't think you have a plan." Butler pleaded, but Artemis just chuckled

"Seems you forgot yet ANOTHER thing about me. I always have a plan." And with that, Artemis Fowl turned on his heels, took one step, and fell off the five story building and into the alley way down below.

**HA HA HA! Cliffhanger, sorry about that, but I wanted to make sure that you are all still with me! And what do you think about new, dangerous (slightly insane ) Arty? And who do you think killed Minerva's brother? Who is she working for?**

** Questions questions. Take a guess at them in a review! Can I please just get five reviews. It would make me the happiest author in the world! Okay, it is super late, and I need to recheck this soon, to get it up soon. Henceforth, I can not say thanks to all of you awesome reviewers! So... I will just say hello and thanks to all of you. Hello! And thank you to EVERY SINGLE REVIWER! Each and every one makes me happier!**

** Random fact: "'Jedi' is actually a religion with 70,000 followers in Australia." How many of you would join the Jedi religion? **

** Do you think Artemis will survive?**

** This has been a note from Bookworm 2700, and sorry for any mistakes and pm me or leave a review to help me become a better writer.**

** Read.**

** Review.**

** Jedi.**

**-Bookworm2700**


	4. Chapter 4: It is called five,not four

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Artemis Fowl. Therefor, it must belong to Mr. Colfer. Sadly I must admit this, no matter how much I wish it wasn't true.**

**Yeah, sorry about the wait, but my great grandma's funeral was Saturday and I was busy all weekend. I am going to try to update twice this week, because I am going to be in Arkansas all spring break, with no cable or satellite. FUN!- I am not being sarcastic, I am just super excited, except I can't update for you amazing reviwers. But I'll write more for it!**

Penny woke up to the smell of pancakes and bacon. Her favorite meal. She also observed the fact that Remis was not by her side, and the sheets were twisted, stating he had gone for a run earlier in the night. She heard light footsteps on the condo's carpet, and quickly got out of bed.

As she walked into the kitchen wearing her pajama shorts and t-shirt, she saw an extraordinary sight. Remis was still in his pajamas too, and had sagged shoulders, his face covered in worry.

"Remis, whats wrong?" Asked Penny, coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around him. Remis sighed and curled his hands into Penny's shirt in back.

"Nothing, sweetheart. Bad dream." He stated sullenly, kissing the top of her head.

"You sure?" Asked Penny again, knowing that her husband was lying through his straight, white teeth.

"Yes. Very, very, sure."

"Are you positive?"  
>"Positive."<p>

"Surely Positive?"

"Positively sure." replied Remis, and Penny smiled, knowing that her husband was safe.

.~.~.~.~.~

Penny was used to being wrong and learned to accept it, as Artemis had come to know. But he was still worried about the group of figures outside his door, or so he thought. He knew that they were watching him, and they knew that he was sure they were there. But neither of the groups could have possibly thought that another force was watching them. That a force was waiting for them to make one mistake, one that they would pay dearly for.

Opal Koboi would make sure of that.

.~.~.~.~

Artemis was waiting by the front door of his house where he knew the fairy people to be.

"Hello Holly." said Artemis and Holly turned visible.

"Hello mud boy." Holly spat and Butler quietly put his hand on her shoulder, silencing her. Holly was still angry at Artemis for some things he had said to her the night before. Quite a few weren't very nice. Several of them Holly nearly punched his lights out because of.

"Well Fowl, I suggest that we get this show on the road. Follow me." Foaly said, his tail swishing back and forth in delight. He trotted over to the Fowl Bentley and gestured for Artemis to get inside. Doing so, Artemis heard the locks click and Butler re open them to slide in, Minerva sitting in front with him.

"Is this really necessary Butler?" asks Artemis and Butler chuckled.

"Your a criminal master mind who has been hiding from us for six years. You managed to survive jumping off that building last night and you give me a run for my money in fighting. We are going to take extra caution to make sure you don't run away from us again." Butler said stiffly, but he was happy to have the boy cooperating with him for once.

"So I have noticed. I thought I gave you my trust last night after you took me hostage."

"So you did Artemis."

"And now you are going to question me."

"Yes. Yes we are."

"Fun."

.~.~.~.~.~

Artemis boarded the LEP shuttle at entrance A6 in the Pennsylvania countryside. The shuttles had not changed much, they were in fact as Artemis had remembered them from so many years ago. However, as Foaly would say later on, the interior was far better to ride in than those "old pieces of junk" Artemis was used to. Artemis saw no difference.

When the odd characters arrived in Haven city, it was tourist season and Holly had shown her badge so much that she was on the edge of her nerves. Soon Artemis, Foaly, Juliet, Butler, Holly, and Minerva all were in a small room with a white table and six chairs around it. Each person (elf, or centaur.) was seated at a place, the interrogation began.

Butler and Juliet sat on either side of him, to make sure he wasn't lying. Also to keep him from pulling a master get away and losing the boy forever.

"Okay Artemis. Why did you run away?" asked the elfin captain, and Artemis rolled his eyes, he had taken his green contacts out, so they were now blue.

"Well, I think I told you this last night when you interrogated me. Is this really necessary?" Artemis asked and this time Holly rolled her eyes.

"We could have missed some information and not written others down." Holly stated and Artemis knew it was bull crap, but didn't argue. For one he knew that Foaly had planted security cameras in the isolated room he had been in, and that the friends sitting next to him memorized every word he said.

"I ran away because of what you all said about me." Artemis stated and blankly looked at the wall of the LEP interrogation room. White.

"What day was this?" asked Foaly, poising his fingers over the keyboard, ready to hack into the Fowl security.

"March 15, six years ago." said Artemis, and watched as Foaly placed the date into the keyboard, mumbling about how aliens could be attacking and he was stuck here.

A video popped up on the blank white wall behind Artemis, part of Butler's head was in the way, casting a shadow on the screen. Butler moved to a small corner of the room, so that his bulk wouldn't cross the screen. Artemis had to duck his head down, as not to do the same as Butler, for he had grown considerably taller int eh past six years. Almost six foot four inches, Holly noted, and then realized that the mud boy she had known was all grown up.

The projected image on the wall showed the days events, that tragic six years ago and Artemis winced at some parts that were placed on the screen. As soon as it began, the video ended and the room was shaded in a darkness that made silence unbearable.

"D'avirt Foaly, turn on the Gods Frank light!" Shrieked Holly, and the lights turned back on.

"Language Short!" Shouted Foaly and Holly grunted in reply.

"So that answers one of our questions. Next one, why did you move on?" She asked and Artemis sighed, as this had been one of the questions Holly had avoided the night before.

"I moved on because I fell in love with a beautiful girl, and loved her. I moved on because I couldn't raise my brothers all by myself, I knew that they would still need a mother figure in their lives, and that a brother simply wouldn't do. I moved on because I thought that you all had moved on and that I had been left alone. I moved on because I had no where else to go." Artemis replied and Holly's eyes filled with pain.

"Next one. You told us last night that you partially ran away because of your parents death. Explain." Holly stated, a question that demanded an answer.

"I was fifteen physically, you must remember, so I was only placed with the twins because I was legally eighteen. I can do most anything, except any sort of family comforting or socializing. I was not emotionally ready to be a father figure, run a empire, deal with my parents deaths, and my complex. I was not ready, and with your conversation that day made me realize that I was just weak, and so I needed to prove you wrong." Artemis said simply, and the rooms occupants wished that the problem at hand could be that simple.

"Next question-" Holly was cut off by the ringing of a phone, the answering of it, and Artemis's face growing even paler than before, and one thing was off in the room.

Minerva was missing.

.~.~.~.~

Penny was driving home from college, it was almost her graduation day, and finals were tougher than ever in this last year. All the blonde girl wanted to do was go home, see her family, be treated like a queen, and then go to bed for the weekend. There. Everything would be fine, Penny thought as she drove to pick the kids up from school.

Parking her car, Penny got out and locked the doors. She began to walk away from the vehicle and towards the school. The halls were lined with colorful pictures from the younger grades and towards the fourth grade classroom at the end of the hall. Walking in, keys jingling, Penny was bombarded by three small figures racing towards her.

"Penny!" Shouted Luke, Ty, and Lina.

"Hey guys! How was your day at school?" asked Penny and happy replies of "Good." or "Weird." even Beckett's strange, " Hamsterie." ( Beckett had a incident with the pet hamster. Penny received several phone calls while she was- thought you could get answers out of me could you? Ha ha not.)

"Great! Remis is going to be working late tonight, so we will have to pick up dinner." Penny said, ( Penny was not the best cook so any night Remis was not around to cook, the kids got fast food or they went out to eat. Luckily Remis was around most of the time.)

After picking up Cammie from third grade, the adult and children set out in search of the car.

"Penny, we had a substitute today. She was mean." Said Lina and Penny bent down to ask her what happened and who the teacher was.

"She was a lady who was really short and skinny, she had reddish hair and pointy ears, like a pixie! She wasn't like how you described pixies to be though. She yelled at Ty for trying to eat glue, and the hamster." Penny nodded thoughtfully, Ty had done worse things at school. "She also got angry at Luke for answering 'to many questions, and not giving others a turn.' Then she said I was trying to force my religion on Susie when she sneezed and I said, 'God bless you.!'**( A/N: heheh, that was something from Wayside School! I love that series, so that quote belongs to the author.)** She was weird!" Lina said and Penny frowned, obviously angry.

"We also had a sub named Mr. Spiro. He was freaky and mean too! He forced us all to do something called pre-algebra, and said that the 'young people of the day were not getting enough education.' so I was weird-ed out by him." Cammie said.

"I'll call the school tomorrow and check it out. Lets go get something to eat."

.~.~.~.~

When Penny drove up into the driveway of the condo, she took out her phone and found that Remis hadn't called. He always called her after she came home, it was routine. Along with that odd occurrence, a window to the house was open.

"Okay eat up kiddos!" Penny called and they all ran to get their McDonalds. A tasty treat, and quickly ate them up. Beckett and Cammie drank their sodas so fast that they were forced to go excrete (means to go to the bathroom.). And soon, the two were in the bathroom, when the door creaked open.

"Remis? Remis is that you?" asked Penny as she got up, a nervous tremor to her voice. "Remis stop playing games!" Penny called as she walked towards the door, and into a huge man with sandy blonde hair, sharp shark like teeth, and tattoos all over his bulging muscles.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the great Artemis Fowl's wife, Penelope Freewater." Said the man and Penny moved to block the door.

"How do you know my name?" asked Penny, and quickly began flashing hand signals to the kids who were creeping up behind her.

"Ah, there are the kiddos. Boys, get 'em!" Shouted the buff man, and Penny felt a prick in her arm, before her world faded into darkness.

"Miss Koboi will be very pleased."

.~.~.~.~

Beckett had heard the shouts from downstairs as pounding footsteps and cries for help emerged. However, Remis had taught him to make sure to keep himself safe, and to get only others not in harms way out. A.K.A. Cammie.

So now the young boy was scaling the ledge outside his house, and trying to get to the other bathroom window, a few feet from his. Bushes sat beneath the ledge and Beckett was merely a few feet away, so he tapped on the glass, and Cammie came to the window, a scared look on her pretty face.

"Ty, what are you doing?" asked Cammie and Beckett just gestured for her to open the window.

"Someone is here, we need to get out." He said and held his hand out.

"But what about-" Cammie started but Beckett cut her off.

"They would want us to get out and who knows what is in there? We need to leave."

"But we're locked up here- no. Ty. No!" Shouted Cammie and a shuffle of footsteps outside the door was heard.

"Come on. I'll call up Remis and he'll know what to do." Then Beckett pulled the girls hand, and they fell into the bushes.

**I have found that the Fowl boys like jumping off buildings. Sorry if some parts of it were confusing, I tried to make it as easy as possible. Can someone please explain to me what a cannon paring is? I hate not knowing! Anyway, I hope this makes up for any lost chapters but it has been stressful, and I don't know if I will be able to get the next chapter up this week, but I might. It is going to tell about the night before, or just continue with this and save the other for later.**

Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this! Here are some review appreciations! You gave me fourteen reviews over achievers! However I will not complain!

Fowl Star 57- Thanks for reviewing and the tips! I am trying to do better in this story, so hopefully I can become a better writer in high school and college!

ArilivesnotDylan- Thanks for reviewing!

NobodySomebodyAnybody- awesome name, thanks for the review!

Pearlgril97 – true that! Happy reading!

Iamtheauthoress- thnaks for reviewing and answering! Chickens like cherry's? Learning something new everyday!

Taking a chance- thanks for the review, and I hope that you are now satisfied

Francesco's girl xx- thanks for reviewing! It mean so much!

SelenaJackson2201- thanks for leaving a review, leave some more!

Nanna s- Thanks for the review, thou make Bookworm happy! :)

hollythebestXD- thou please leave more review to be happy!

Kathrine Apollo Karma- Thanks for supportive reviews!

TheDanaDobreAKAToshiroLover- A reviewer! Happy dance!:)

LEPrecon- nice skit,I don't think Arty would do a jig, but who knows? Glad you like the story!

Lady Melody Lily- Do NOT give up hope on me Lady Melody Lily! Thanks for reviewing!

Random fact: 65% of those with autism are left handed!

So there you go, please leave a review, and everyone enjoy the story!

Read.

Review.

Happy Easter/spring break!


	5. Chapter 5: The truth

**Disclaimer:**** I am not Eion Colfer. Nor will I ever be. Therefor, how can I own Artemis Fowl if I am not him?**

** Anyway, thanks for all the reviews, and now I know what a cannon paring is. Thanks and enjoy!**

**Okay, i accidently posted the wrong chapter, sorry lady melody, but heres the real one!**

Artemis was gone in a flash, running through the streets of Haven.

"Artemis!" Holly shrieked, running after the boy as fast as she could. The Butlers followed, and in the end, the trio tackled the man to the ground. Dragging Artemis back to the room, kicking and screaming (quite literally actually, they drew many stares from the pedestrians on the streets.) was a hastle. "Artemis, what happened? One minute you were fine, the next you freaked." Holly had gotten down on one knee to look at the man, but even as she sat face to face, his eyes were distant.

"They have them." He whispered, shaking, a cold sweat had broken out on his forehead.

"Who has who, Artemis?" Questioned Holly, shaking the man.

"Koboi and Spiro. They have Penny, Lina, and Myles." He whispered as if in a daze.

"Great Gods hes gone into shock." Foaly grumbled. Juliet stepped up to Artemis, and slapped him across the cheek.

"Seriously Fowl, get a hold of yourself and help us get your brother back!" Shouted the woman and Artemis's black head snapped up.

"Holly, I need you to fly us up to the surface, Beckett and Cammie saw everything that happened, and managed to escape. I told them to wait for us at the school." Said Artemis and then they were all rushed out the door, and took a shuttle to the surface.

.~.~.~.~.~

Beckett lead Cammie through the streets of Jamestown, and was careful to weave out of the way of the people on the streets. Cammie was having a panic attack.

"What happened to Penny? Where are we going Luke? Why did those people come after us?..." Beckett merely placed a hand over her mouth as they approached the school. Two figures were coming out and the kids hid behind a bush as fast as they could. Peeking out, they saw it was their teachers from earlier that day.

"Opal, are you sure that this plan is going to work? I mean, that blasted Fowl beat us so many-"

"Of course I'm sure Spiro! I have finally figured out that Fowl can take anything that's coming at him directly, but not indirectly. Basically, he can stand torture, but he cannot take seeing others get hurt because of his actions. So to kidnap his family and torture them is the perfect way." Opal concluded her rant and Spiro gave the most sickening laugh either of the children had ever heard. It was like nails against a chalkboard or some animal giving a dying wail as it was killed. It was the sound of someone laughing at others death.

Beckett tensed up, and was about to spring on the pair until Cammie latched herself onto his arm. For once, he had to make the grown up decision here. Leave Cammie and attack those freaky people, and possibly risk having himself and Cammie captured before they could make it back to Remis, or wait for his elder and report what they saw. He sat down in the bushes and watched as Opal and Jon got into a car, and drove away to wherever they were going. Beckett predicted they were going to H-E double hockey sticks. But that was also just him.

This is the right decision, Beckett told himself. He also tried to tell himself that it was the correct and good thing to do. But one thought was creeping up in the back of his mind. Was it the decision that had killed his family?

.~.~.~.~.~.

Artemis drove like a madman. He didn't care that he would get speeding tickets, they could wait. Right now he had to figure out why old enemies were attacking his family.

The school was a low stone building, with a rusty playground, and open grassy fields. No one usually locked all the schools doors, because who would attack a childrens elementary school? So when Artemis pulled up to the building, he was surprised to find that Jon Spiro and Opal had closed the doors. "Luke? Cammie?" Yelled the man, and he saw two figures rushing around in the bushes, hiding. He quickly sprinted towards the pair, and was about to look behind the bush when a tree branch came hurtling towards his head. He was knocked square in the face, and slumped to the ground while his attacker jumped onto his chest.

"Remis?" breathed none other than Beckett, a stick discarded by his side.

"Yes Luke, now may you please get off me." Artemis hissed from the lack of oxygen intake. Who knew that Beckett would be so heavy? He had to stop giving these kids so many cookies. Penny always said that, but he had never listened until that day. Beckett quickly got off of his brothers chest, and yelled into the bush,

"It's safe to come out now Cammie." Beckett reached down to help the small girl up from her crouched position.

"Okay, I need you two to tell me exactly what happened." It turned out that Beckett did most of the talking, but Cammie pipped up with tiny details that the boy missed. Good, thought Artemis, every detail counts. So Beckett recounted every single thing that happened in the past hour.

"Remis, who are these people?" Asked Beckett, and Artemis turned to see Holly, Butler, Juliet, and Foaly all standing behind him, having heard the entire conversation.

His eyes meet Holly's, and she gave a nod as if to say,_ You can tell them. They deserve to know._ He was about to open his mouth when he heard Cammie shriek.

"Is that man a centaur, Remis, like in Harry Potter?" asked the girl, and Artemis stared at her. Foaly had activated his new invention so he appeared human, but it seemed that Cammie saw right through it.

"What do you mean, Cammie?" asked Beckett as he stared at Foaly, as if trying to see what Cammie saw.

"I see it too! Remis, look!" he screamed and Artemis turned to see that the children were right. The hologram around the centaur's body was fading, and soon he stood there with his half horse half man body.

"This is going to be a long story." Predicted Cammie. Artemis merely nodded.

.~.~.~.~

Artemis, Cammie, Beckett, Juliet, Butler, Holly, and Foaly all sat in a small classroom. It had desks scrambled all over the place, crayons were dropped on the floor, and the chalkboard had doodles all over it.

"It started back when I was twelve. Butler and Juliet lived with me, and father wasn't there. He had gone missing a few years back after the Fowl Star sank in the Arctic. Everyone claimed that he was dead, but I didn't believe them. I believed that if I could get enough money, I could journey to the Arctic and bargain with the Russian Mafia for my father, our father."

"But why would you do that Remis?" asked Beckett, but Artemis cut him off.

"Please don't ask questions. And don't call me Remis, my name is Artemis Fowl the second. Your real name is Beckett Fowl, and Ty's is really Myles. Our parents were Angeline and Artemis Fowl the first. I grew up on the mansion grounds, you did too for about three years until mother and father died in a car crash."

"Until then, I had been a self centered child, because all I knew about was how to make money and be a criminal. Mother had gone crazy, and I believed that I could capture a fairy. So I did. That would be Holly." He gestured the fairy woman and she nodded her head. "Eventually, the LEP came after us to get Holly back, the LEP is the fairy peoples police team..." Artemis continued his tale with small chirps from his group and then when it was over, they all looked to the children. Cammie was stunned, and Beckett had a growing anger.

"You kept this from us? For how many years?"

"Beckett I-"

"You know? You don't know crap Artemis! What its like to have your life ripped from your grasp and find out that your brother is some kind of.. some kind of... some kind of criminal! To suddenly find out that your life is going to be different from now on, that your role model ran away because he couldn't face the truth!" Beckett was standing up, and spitting into his brothers face. Then he saw the pained look in the mans eyes.

"I ran away because everyone thought I was weak. I didn't want anyone to take you away from me! I had lost almost everything! You were the only things I had left, and I couldn't lose you two too!" Artemis shouted and soon they both stormed off.

"I'm going to talk to Lu- I mean Beckett." Said Cammie quietly, and rushed off down the hall.

"I'm going to talk to Artemis." said Holly, and she too ran off.

"Well than." said Foaly to fill the silence, "This is awkward."

The Butlers couldn't help but agree.

~.~.~.~.~.

When Cammie came out of the school, she knew exactly where Beckett would be. He was swinging on the rusty swing set, making a awful creaking noise. Cammie sat beside him, but he just stared at the ground.

"I grew up with a different family. I would've been a completely different person." Beckett whispered. Cammie sighed as she listed to him.

"But you were raised with us. Nothing can change that."

"I know, but.. I could have been so different. Maybe I would've liked to drink tea and talk weird."

Cammie sighed, "Your not being asked why you weren't that kid that Artemis tried to keep you away from. Your being asked why are you Beckett/Luke. Your you, and no life style would majorly affect you."

"It changed my brother."

"He was raised in a different setting, but how he treats you now is how he was supposed to be like." Beckett thought this over for awhile, before coming to a decision.

"Thanks Cammie. Maybe your right." Cammie laughed.

"I'm right a lot, nobody notices it though." This time Beckett laughed and kissed her cheek quickly, and ran away before he could see the blush on her cheeks.

~.~.~.~.~

Artemis had his head in his hands because he knew Holly was right. "The only reason I kept it from him was because I didn't want myself to turn into mother with grief and leave them alone."

"That's what we were talking about that day. We wanted to make sure that wouldn't happen. But..."

"I took it the wrong way."

"Pretty much."

Artemis heaved a sigh and shook his head so that black hair wrung over his hands. He just wanted to make sure that his brothers didn't become like him, and having people calling him weak was just another blow to his blindness. Blindness to what he had really done. How he had taken a life that his brothers needed away from them.

"I'm an idiot Holly, I need to talk to him."

"That's what you should do-" Holly was cut off by a tick-tick-tick.

"What is that?" asked Artemis, getting in a fighting stance. Then the ticking grew louder and Artemis identified it as coming from the bottom of the desk. He raced over and got down on a knee to look. A large box was hooked to the desk with flashing minutes, _2:00,1:59_ as it began to countdown, Artemis realized that the wires were leading all around the halls. "Holly! We need to get out of here!" Shouted Artemis, scrambling upwards and grabbing the elfin captains arm. Soon they were out the door of the school, were they crashed into Cammie.

"Did Beckett talk to you Artemis, I know-" Cammie started smiling but Artemis cut her off.

"Beckett's in the building?" Artemis was frozen as Cammie nodded, and then was off back into the building.

"Beckett? Beckett! Where are you?"He screamed and stumbled as he turned a corner. There stood Beckett at the end of the hallway, frozen as Artemis ran towards him with a kind of psychotic look in his eyes.

"Artemis, whats wrong?" He asked as Artemis sprinted towards him. But all Artemis could think was _20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14..._ and then he grabbed Beckett and saw a window up ahead. Wrapping the boy in his body so he wouldn't be hurt, Artemis carried Beckett to the window and threw himself at it just at the last second. Then the bomb exploded as Artemis shielded Beckett with his body from the raining glass and Opal Koboi's hysterical laughter, as Artemis's world fell into darkness.

**So? How was it? Good, great, okay, epically failed? Leave a review to say what you think. And I won't do this often, but how about seven or eight reviews, it would mean a lot. I looked on my email and saw that so many people added this story to story alert, and if that many people reviewed, this story could have so many reviews it would not even be funny. But of course on some stories I don't review too, so how can I talk. **

** Anyway tell all of your friends, your friends friends, your dog, anyone to read and enjoy! I'm not the type of person who always wants reviews, but I just want people to have a good read, but I'm not going to say I don't like reviews...**

** Well, that's it for this update, sorry its so short, I just wanted to put something up for all of you! So how was your Easter? Spring break? Well, thanks for informing me what a cannon paring is, and here is your fact for the day!**

**Random fact of the day: Mistletoe berries are poisonous! Yeah, so be careful kissing under the mistletoe...**

** Well, thanks to all who reviewed last chapter, I am going to mention others every other chapter. **

**Read.**

**Review**

**Enjoy!**

**-Bookworm2700 :) **


	6. Chapter 6: Explosions and odors

**Disclaimer:**** If I were Eoin Colfer, I'd be rich and have a library. What? Can't a girl dream?**

**Anyway, I'm going to thank the reviewers now instead of at the end.**

**Lady Melody Lily: Thanks once again for noting me about that website... and its not my birthday.. but keep on reading and thanks again.**

**Iamtheauthoress: I'm with you on the crazy train, don't worry. And thanks for reviewing!**

**LinzPhantom: Glad you like the story! Thanks for a wonderful review! **

**Fowl Star 57: Well I hope you did well on your state testing! And when people tell you to get a goodnight rest, it just makes it harder doesn't it?**

**Francesco's : Your right about Artemis waking up in a hospital, and so read and review on to find out what happens!**

** Anywho- I don't care if it isn't a word- let the story continue!**

…...

Butler was almost always prepared for anything and everything. However, this trait had been lost when he dropped out of the body guard business, after his charge's disappearance. So when Captain Holly Short came running out of the elementary school, he wasn't ready.

"Take cover!" She screamed at the group and they all dropped to the ground behind the thick branches of a tree. In a matter of seconds, there was an atomic BOOM that erupted around the school, and made everyone put their hands over their ears. Soon they felt chunks of glass and soot ran down through the branches, making them all look like dust bunnies. As soon as it came, the explosion went away leaving only a mushroom cloud of gray smoke and the ashes that served as a reminder. Aside form the half melted swing set and slide, and the charred grass of course. This all must be taken into consideration. Cammie did, as she looked at the ruins of her school. Only a few desks stood, and they would fall apart at the slightest touch.

"Artemis? Beckett? Where are you?" Shouted Butler, sprinting around the schools perimeter, looking for the individuals. Then he heard a groan, and the rustle of clothing as a body struggled.

"O-" a loud coughing fit was held before the voice spoke once again. "Over here! Help!" squealed none other than Beckett Fowl. Butler rushed over, with Juliet and Holly close on his heels.

Artemis looked like crap. There was no other way to put it. His sweatshirt and t-shirt had been scorned with burns and glass had cut away any remaining thread. His jeans only had a few holes in them, but were otherwise unharmed. It was the blood that was seeping and pooling in dark red puddles around Artemis that scared Butler. Glass shards had embedded themselves into the mans back, and burns scorched the remaining skin around the cuts. Artemis was growing paler and paler each second, and none of them could do anything about it.

"Holly, can you heal him?" Butler asked, though he predicted the answer.

"No, the cuts are to deep. And if I heal him the skin will just grow over the glass, burying them in Artemis's back. We'll have to take him to Haven and have a doctor there help him. This is beyond me." Holly sighs and quickly gets up, indicating for the others to do the same, and walked towards the car.

…...

Dr. Monce was sitting in the doctors lounge after a long day at work. Healing injured LEP agents and caring for regular patients had taken almost everything out of him. So he had finally called it a day, and was attempting to rest up before he went home to his wife.

Dr. Monce was one of the best doctors there was, having done the job for a couple hundred years, and loved it. But every so often a situation came up that could only hurt one person or another. The doctor also had a degree in therapy and kept watch over the mental ward, and the..'special' wards down below the hospital.

So here he was drinking coffee, even though it went against everything he told patients. The man was being a hypocrite for the day, so what? It was very odd for the doctor to act like this and everyone noticed it. New Nurses ran at the sight of him and doctors cowered in fear. It felt good for once to be the big person on top with the help of his contacts.

The noise in the hall was too much for him to stand, so he began to get up when the door flew open. In it stood a large figure that blocked out the light from the hall.

"?" asked a small voice and to go with it, appeared another person, or should he say, elf.

"Y- Y- Yes." Replied the doctor, and the figure smiled.

"We need you help." Was all the elfin captain said.

Dr. Monce began to complain but hen he saw who he was talking to and the limp man in the giant's arms. " Of course." Was all he said and set of at a sprint down the hall to the first open room he could find.

…...

"Artemis, are you sure that you don't want another pain killer?" Asked Butler and his used-to-be employer nodded, causing an avalanche of dust to fall from his hair.

"Ye- Yes old friend. I'm very sure. It won't help now will it." Artemis said, burying his face in the pillow.

"He's right you know." called Dr. Monce as he looked over his tray of tools. All of them were sharp, menacing and horrifying. Don't worry, they all were sterilized too.

Meanwhile Butler was glaring at the doctor. Something didn't seem right about him. There was a nervousness that overcame the pixie's body, a slight tremor to his foot, a shake in his hand. And Butler didn't like it one bit.

"Sorry." mumbled the doctor, his previous arrogance gone.

"Just get it over with Dr. Monce, please." Holly said, and the doctor grabbed a pair of awful tweezers.

"As you say Captain Short." And the doctor advanced towards the boys back , tweezers poised like a torture. The way Artemis screamed you would think it was.

…...

Beckett was being physically restrained by Juliet to keep him from pacing. He kept muttering about how it was his fault and how he would never forgive himself. Juliet was literally sitting on the boy, and still he struggled.

Cammie was watching all of this in her seat, nibbling down her nails. Juliet's concoction of lemon and lime juice hadn't done anything except slow down the girl. Sometimes Juliet had missed taking care of kids, but know she realized that she wouldn't mind leaving it in the past. The kid's fidgeting had gotten worse when Artemis had begun to shriek. It made even Juliet shiver, the sound of his voice so strained. It made her terrified for the first time, in a extremely long time.

Foaly was no help, since Holly had sent him to try and get an idea of where Lina, Penny and Myles were being held. So Juliet was facing the wrath of the kids by herself. It got old after a while, but she still fought against the kids for some time until Dr. Monce walked out with a tray. All the tools on it were stained a deep blood red, along with the doctors gloves and part of his once white coat. He finally noticed the mud men and nodded at them. "It's done." Was all he said before walking away down the hall.

Juliet was relieved as she waltzed into the room, to see blue sparks jumping from Holly's fingertips to Butler's hand which was bent at an odd angle. Seeing the look that crossed the mud girls face Holly quickly explained, "He told Artemis to hold onto his fingers, and the mud boy broke them. Who knew he could ever do that?" asked Holly and Beckett replied,

" Hes different now." With a surprising stiffness that didn't seem to fit Beckett, but yet, it did. It reminded them all of Artemis. Butler was the first one to recover from the shock, and he merely chuckled a dark, dark laugh.

"Never have truer words been spoken." Was all he said, and yet it filled the room with an uneasy feeling of regret, sadness, and anger. Because Butler's words were true too.

…...

"Why does he have bandages on? I thought Holly would have healed him." Asked Juliet, trying to start a conversation and she was curious on this particular subject. What could she say, Juliet Butler was always curious.

Butler sighed as he said, " Dr. Monce said that it would be better if he healed like this. Holly and I fought with him for a solid 20 minutes, but he wouldn't give in. So He wrapped up Artemis in bandages with that gauze." Juliet too sighed and rested her chin on her hand. It was her and Butler's turn to watch over Artemis, to see if he may wake up. This time Foaly and Holly were taking care of Cammie and Beckett, which was a hassle.

Juliet swore she heard Holly threaten the kids with her gun, but when she checked, the kids were silent and sitting in their seats.

Beckett had begged to be let in, demanded even and at some points Holly tied him to the waiting room chair. Quite a few times actually. Eventually, the kid had calmed down and given up hope and sat down without a fight. Here was were the similar personality traits between Beckett and Artemis stopped. Artemis would have never given up and fought until someone, anyone sedated him. Juliet knew from experience. Fowls were fighters, just not physically. Most of the time at least...

Suddenly, a odor stunk up the room. Butler noticed it from his position on the floor. It stunk like sulfur and rotten eggs. Burning flesh and blood were mixed in there too, making the room unbearable to stand in. When they looked up, they were faced with the linen bandages smoking, the white paste under them glowing. Tears in their eyes, the Butlers stood and turned to Artemis once again.

"J-J-Ju-u- liet. Ge- Get H- Holly." Butler coughed, and saw that the spittle he had coughed up was really blood, and he knew this was a serious problem.

Juliet nodded, and placed her shirt over her nose and ran out of the room. She later returned with Holly and gas masks. Artemis's skin had gotten worse, the bandages were gone replaced with the pulsing white gauze, as if it were living like the members of the room. In fact, it seemed to draw on the life of all the rooms residents. Holly had called for N1 and he came running into the room as the occupants regained the air they had lost.

N1 raised his hands, that were covered with runes, and laid them on Artemis's pale back, that was growing paler by the seemed to be burning away with the white goop on Artemis's back. A flash of neon colors sent the room into a frenzy, and the odor increased along with the desperate need to curl up and sleep, never to be waken again. N1 tried once again to fight the white paste, but to no avail. And his friends began to drop one by one because of it. First Holly, then Juliet, and finally Butler ( not without a fight however, mind you.) as the odor overwhelmed the mud man, mud woman and elf.

Only the warlcok and Artemis were left, and Artemis was soon to fade, but his fearless friend wouldn't let that happen. Instead of fighting the concotion with magic, the warlock fought it with something entierly different. He ran to the sink and wet a towel, knowing that mud men where made up of 75% water, and rubbed all of the gauze off of Artemis's back so that it began to burn holes through the cloth instead of Artemis's already scorched back.

Running on his small legs, N1 ran towards an open spot outside of the hospital and summoned all of his magic into this one thing. And the cloth burst into flames, leaving this world. And N1 sprinted back once again to asess the damage, only to see the room burning with the odor, and the warlocks friends were all lying there, lifeless and dead.

He and his friends were all in the worst situations they could have been in. And that was saying a lot.

**Oooooookay. I know that was sort of confusing, but basically the stuff the doctor on Artemis's back was toxic and began to burn. It therefor began to feed off all the living things in the room which was Holly, Butler, Juliet, and Artemis. The only reason N°1 didn't faint was because his magic fought it off.**

** Anyway, I really wanted to post his and give something to all of you amazing reviewers for the week, or at least a few days. I want to be able to update at least twice a week, and I want all of your opinions on which two days I should update on.**

** So heres your random fact for the update: Wendigo Psychosis is an usual mental disorder that "awakens the insatiable desire to eat human flesh, even though there are other food sources avaliable." anywayyyy thats just creepy to me but cool. I always liked learning new thinks about psychology and crap.**

** So this is an update with a random fact that I can't pronounce so I'm glad I'm just writing.**

** Please give me five reviews. Just five to boost this story up to 43 reviews. It makes me feel so better. Don't make me send Mulch after you. I like my reviewers and I don't want you all to suffocate of Mulch fart. Constructive critsism is always welcomed.**

**So as always, I hope you enjoyed!**

**Read**

**Review**

**Enjoy**

**Wendigo Psychosis**

**-Bookworm2700**


	7. Chapter 7: Messages and a glint

**Disclaimer: By now you should all know that I am in no way shape or form Eoin Colfer, nor do I own Artemis Fowl. Get used to it.**

** Sorry about the wait, but my power went out for a few days and I've been busy. I just find my facts online by the way, so that is why they are so weird. Like that last one, it was just disturbing.**

** So anyway, more or less, the last chapter was pretty suckish, and weird. On to a better chapter.**

Artemis woke up to the beeping of a monitor. His eyes wanted to stay glued shut and he was about to pass out from the pain of his wounds. He wanted to faint, if it would keep the fire that burned at his back at bay.

"Artemis?" asked none other than N1, who was sitting on a white hard plastic chair next to the bed Artemis lay on.

Artemis tried to respond but it came out as more of a grunt. However, it seemed to please N1 that Artemis was cappable of making noises. Slowly, as to not inflare the pain, Artemis sat up and looked around.

The room was just like the one he had been in earlier, with white walls, cahirs, beds, beddings, and tools. Monitors were set up around the area, weaving with cords and making odd noises. Then Artemis saw the damage around him. Butler, Juliet, and Holly were limping around the room or asleep in bed. (Holly was the only one up, since it would take longer for the Butlers to reject the intoxication they had recieved.) Cammie and Beckett were attempting to play cards on a nearby folding table, but were to distracted to do so.

"Hes awake!" Cried N1, and Holly raced over along with Beckett and Cammie, who's cards fluttered to the floor.

"Artemis!" Holly shrieked and wrapped her thin arms around the mud man.

Once again Artemis made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a shriek. "Oooh, sorry about that Arty. I was just happy you were alive." She said and then gently pulled back.

"A-A-A little faith, Holly." Artemis rasped, his voice sounding as if someone had burned it. And then made him swallow a chicken. And put it in a meat grinder.

"Artemis!" Hollared Beckett, launching himself like a catapult at his elder.

"Beckett." Artemis tried to smile, but it turned out to be a grimice.

"Are you alright?" Asked Artemis, his tone taking on a tone of worry, not for himself, but for the boy before him.

"Yes. But you aren't. You should have seen N1, he was amazing! All these cool flashing lights and stuff, it was awesome!" Shouted Beckett. N1 blushed furiously. If warlocks can blush...

"And Arty should be getting rest." Pipped up the ever curious Cammie. Artemis had barely noticed the girl, but that was her speacilty. She gazed up at Artemis with her big blue eyes, and the man opened up his arms to have the girl be pulled into him. Artemis was the father Cammie never had, and she appreciated his acceptance of her. He treated her like she was his daughter, and was the most like Artemis out of the four children. Most of the time, at least.

"Now," stated Cammie with a tone that felt condescending, but in a motherly way. " You need to sleep, and rest for awhile. You took the worst of us all and it has taken a lot out of you." Artemis began to protest, but Holly came over and placed her hand on Artemis's pale forehead. With a simple muttering of some special words, the world faded into blackness.

...

Foaly was sitting in his office and pacing around the small space. It had every computer the LEP could offer, and any other technology Foaly could get his hands on. The LEP had willingly given the centaur the money for all of these projects, even though almost all of them were his own inventions.

Holly had instructed him not to come out of this room without even a lead on Fowl's new family. More so, Holly ordered him to do this, but Foaly didn't need to be told twice when Captain Short was involved. (Especially an angry, tired, and frustrated Holly Short.) Even so, with the most technologicly advanced equipment that could track almost everything and everyone, Foaly did not see any sign of the hostages. Aside from the secret cameras he had installed in Artemis's old home, he had virtually nothing to rely on.

But then his monitor began to blink. A video had been sent to the computer and it had obviously been meant for Foaly. And it was from none other than Miss Opal Koboi.

"This will not be good." Foaly muttered, along with qute a few curses that would not be approprite to put in this story, as Foaly opened the link.

...

Holly was laying on a bed in the white room where Foaly had left her. She had a cool cloth on her forehead and her tan cheeks were gaunt and hollow. It took all of Foaly's will power not to leave her there. She needed to see this. He saw that Artemis was asleep with Cammie and Beckett by his sides,a smile placed on his and the childrens faces. Peaceful, thought Foaly. That was never a word he had associated with Artemis Fowl many times.

"Holly." Foaly shook the LEP officer awake.

"What in The Gods names is going on here Foaly? D'Avirt, it better be something so important like a goblin attack. Or I swear I will have you hanging by your tail in your office."

Foaly ignored the threats, (Though he was quite afraid of that last one.) and got straight to the point.

"Holly, I recieved a video message. From Opal." Then before the centaur could stop her, Holly bolted upright and hit the laptop in Foaly's hands.

"Why in Frank Foaly didn't you tell this to me sooner? Gods." Holly nearly screamed and Foaly rubbed his laptop as though it had feelings. He was actually trying to some up with a way for a computer to have feelings. Everyone was voting against it because of how the prototype worked out.

"Holly that's what I was trying to tel-" Foaly started but Holly cut him off with a rude comment and then,

"Well you should have tried harder. Now lets see that video."

...

After the video played, Foaly watched Holly's experessions change in heartbeats. First shocked, then Horrified and finally settling on a look betweenn fury, rage, and pain. It made Foaly want to leave the room.

"How dare she! How- How can she do that to innocent people? I know its for revenge, but why- how- what could make her want to do that?"

"Shes Opal Koboi, Holly. She is an evil woman and you know she would go to any extent to make Artemis suffer. Any extent." Foaly sighed.

Holly had began pacing around, her washcloth falling off her forehead and onto the floor with a squishy wet plop.

"Two days. We have two days to find them beofre she declares war on the LEP."

"Yes. And Holly, please stop pacing around, you're going to get hur-" Foaly began but Holly was already walking right over the slippery cloth and skidding to the floor. Her foot knocked Artemis's bed. His eyes,( one blue, one brown,) burst open and he nearly screamed.

"Wha- What is going on here?" Asked Artemis, trying not to jolt the sleeping children by moving to much.

Foaly helped Holly up from the floor and she brushed off her clothes. Though there wasn't much dust considering the floors were spotless, and not a molecule of dirt had touched them.

"Artemis, we need to talk."

...

Artemis had gently set down the children and went to take a seat on an empty bed. Holly placed the laptop in his lap and pressed play, looking over his shoulder. The screen was dark for a moment, and then Opal's vison popped into view.

"Hello Artemis Fowl and Holly Short. Along with any other mudmen friends. And Foaly." She said this last part with disgust, and Foaly's tail flicked back and forth as he gave a snort of disapprovement.

"Hated that part." The centaur, but Holly shushed him into being quiet.

"Yes, By now you know I have your family. And I have some requests before I hand them over." Artemis knew this wouldn't end any better than Opal's previous schemes.

"One. The LEP will be surendered to my colluges and I."

"Not likely." Foaly snorted.

"And Foaly would have snorted, 'Not likely.' by now I am sure." Opal said crossly. Foaly stiffened and fell quiet.

"I also want the complet loyalty of all LEP officers and commanders. And a word of surrender from Artemis Fowl himself. And Foaly admitt that I'm a better genius than he." Foaly mumbled quite a few words that would be quite inappropriate to use in this story. (Again, I know. He just loves those words though! You try to make him stop using them...)

"Fail to meet these requests and you will find Myles, Lina, and Penny all killed. Tortured to death. And the LEP will find itself at war, a war that they will surely not win. You have two days to respond or, how do the mud men do that motion? Spiro!" Opal called and looked off the camera and then nodded her head and turned back.

Then she made a slit throat motion and the screen went black, leaving only a devious smile and an arrogant cockiness.

"Arty, what are we going to do?" Holly whispered sadly at the man who sat in shock on the bed. Then he straightened his back, got into perfect posture and a glint overtook his eyes. A glint that made Holly want to laugh with relief. Her Artemis was back. Her best friend was here and ready to be Artemis Fowl once again. She didn't know if it would be just this once, or forever and ever. But Holly didn't care, because Artemis was Artemis once more. And nothing could change that.

"Well, Holly. First I am going to make a stop at the Fowl safe and pick up some suits and shoes. I can't think in these clothes. Then I am going to get some caviar. Juliet hasn't lost her cooking touch, has she?"

"No. Neither of them did." Holly nearly cried with joy. Artemis's face was set and she knew that a plan was already forming in the back of his mind.

"Good. And Beckett and Cammie will get some new clothes of their preference. Then, we will put this plan into motion."

"What plan?"

"You saw how arrogant she was, Holly. And Arrgoance makes even the best geniuses make stupid mistakes." Holly nodded, but then stopped.

"Even Opal."

"Especially Opal." Holly chewed on this for a moment and then asked in a quiet voice,

"Even you?" Artemis merely smiled, though Holly couldn't place how it was supposed to mean exactly at that time.

"Even me." Artemis paused to gather himself and then warped his head back to Holly. "Now, no one has forgotten me, have they?" asked Artemis even though he knew the answer.

"Who could forget Artemis Fowl?" Asked a deep voice and they turned to find the Butlers, sitting up in bed. Smiles were plastered onto their faces.

"Yeah. I don't think anyone would ever forget you Arty."

"Good, because we are going to need some help on this."

"Artemis Fowl, needs help?" asked Holly in an amused tone.

"Even I need help Holly. Even I can't be alone all the time." Artemis said with just a bit of reluctence. He thought no one would understand this. But all the people in the room knew Artemis better than he thought.

Holly wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, leaning onto his chest. For once there was muscle on it. And Holly snuggled deeper, as she whispered,

"We'll always be here for you, Arty. You won't get away from us that easily. You'll never be alone. Because you have us. Forever." And Artemis truely felt at home for the first time, in a long, long time.

**Okay, yeah, so an emotional ending and all that mushy stuff. I thought this was a pretty good chapter, but could use some work. However, that is me, and I want your opinions! Leave a review, its that little button down below this chapter. Click it and tell me waht you think! And how about we go for... 50 reviews? Just seven little clicks on that button and BOOM! Chapter! Either way, I'd give you a chapter soon, but reviews just boost my confidence in this story!**

** Sorry its late, but I have been under a lot of stress at the moment. I won't be able to update this weekend becaus its my sisters and we are having a sleepover with her friends Saturday, and I am going to see THE AVENGERS on Sunday with my friend, her dad, my dad, and my dads friend.**

** So, Random fact time: 'The numbers '172' can be found on the back of U.S $5 bill, in the bushes at the base of the Lincoln Memorial.' So yeah. Check that out and we'll see if its real!**

** Come on. Leave review for my sister and her birthday! Please! Any way, I hope you enjoyed the story and any mistakes tell me so I can become a better story. Thats what I'm on here for. To become a better author, read awesome storys by amazing authors, and create storys for people to read and enjoy!**

**So, as usual...**

**Read **

**Review**

**172 ( oh, and enjoy!)**

**-Bookworm2700**


	8. Chapter 8: Fowl Manor and the attackers

**Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl. Neither does my new cat. She is a hairless sphinx cat. She is so cute. But anyway, back to the story.**

** Fowl Manor: 42 hours and 15 minutes until Opal's deadline.**

Artemis drove his car up the driveway of Fowl Manor in a trance like state. It had been years since he had been here, and yet it was like he never left. But yet, the manor seemed older physically, and... manorally? Just like Artemis, but mentally. The windows were dusty and the hedges were overgrown. Flowers grew in wild patches and vines crawled their way up the wall's of the mansion.

"Sorry for the dust." Butler said, coming out of the Bentley. "Haven't been here in quite some time." Artemis strolled inside, swinging the grand doors open with the creak of unused hinges, and sweeping up a layer dirt. Both the bodyguard and the charge coughed as they inhaled the musty air.

"It's not you who left, old friend." Artemis said quietly, and Butler said nothing. It was mid afternoon, for Artemis had been down in haven for a little more than a day, and the threat had been received early in the morning, but it seemed almost like night.

Sun seeped through the stain glass window and past the drapes so it made an outline on the floor. Artemis trailed one pale finger on the old wooden banister, the one that he had walked down so many times. Old oak creaked with every footstep upwards, and the railing was rickety.

"I need to go gather some things, Artemis. I'll be back in a few minutes." Butler sensed his charge would need some time to take this all in. And so, he walked off in the other direction and Artemis clambered once again up the stairs.

…...

**In AN OH-SO-SECRET place, and the time is not available to me at the moment. **

Myles woke up to the blinding pain in his head. It felt as if someone had whacked him with a baseball bat, and he stumbled out into the middle of the street to only get hit by a car. That also backed up over him again.

He struggled into a sitting position so his back was laying against the cold wall. _A_ _Wall? _ Wondered Myles, and then he remembered what had happened. The large man had come in and hurt Penny, and those two weird men, they looked like brothers, had come in and injected something to his and Lina's arm. Then nothing. And that was how he ended up here, in this uncomfortable position.

Looking around, Myles saw that he was in a room about the size of a classroom, with white walls and starch white beds. There was no visible door/exit, and the only light was illuminated off the walls, not by sunlight that usually came in by windows that were not present in the room. As Myles slid off the bed, he found that the ground was cold tile, and there was a tiny hatch, just big enough to put a few plates of food through. Almost like a doggie door, in fact, Myles had a sneaking suspicion that it was.

Lina and Penny lay on the beds to his left, and so he went over to them. Gently, he shook Lina on her shoulder, expecting her to wake up. Nothing happened. He shook her shoulder again, rougher this time. Still nothing. Frantically he began to shake Lina until he felt a hand whip across his face.

"OW!" He shrieked and watched Lina mumble some words that would not suit this story. Lina turned over and Myles attempted to shake her once again.

"Lina, Lina get up!" He hissed, sounding very much like Penny.

"Shut it Penny. It's Saturday anyway." Lina mumbled trying to get away from Myles's shakes.

"IT IS NOT SATURDAY! WAKE UP LINA!" Shrieked Myles, and then, seeing no other option, he promptly pushed Lina off the bed and onto the floor.

"MYLES FUIOR I SWEAR I AM GOING TO-"

"Kill him? Sorry, I already called that job." Said a voice. It was obviously female, and it sounded cheery, though considering the situation he was in, Myles doubted this person would be 'Jolly Old Saint Nick'.

Luckily, the voice had saved Myles from waking up Penny, for the loud boom of the intercom that was placed in the room had been defining, and woken up the adult. That, and a roosters crow played over the speaker, very much to Myles's annoyance.

Soon, all three of the rooms' residents were standing and waiting for the voice to come back on. In due time it did, about ten minutes, Myles would say.

"Ah, sorry for that long wait." said the voice, and not waiting for an answer from the hostages, it continued. "My name is Opal Koboi, and my partner, Jon Spiro is currently unable to make this acquaintance."

"What a shame." Lina whispered to Myles sarcastically, trying to lighten the depressing tenseness over the room.

"Actually it is a shame. See he probably could have convinced you better to do the tasks I ask of you."

"What tasks?" asked Penny slowly placing her arms around her siblings shoulders.

"Ah, finally someone who wishes to cooperate with me." said Opal with a sigh of relief.

"What tasks? And where are we?" asked Penny, more sternly this time.

" For that first question, I will answer that after I give you the answer to that silly second question of yours. I can't tell you. Haven't you ever seen those stupid mud man TV shows with the evil villain who captures the kids? Well, they never tell and neither will I. It was stupid of you even to ask."

"And now to the first question. I need you to eat, freshen up, and change clothes. I will send someone to come and get you."

"But-" Penny started, until she realized that no one was there to listen.

…...

First Artemis walked to his old study. It was just down the hall from his room, which he had already found that none of his suits fit him anymore. This was expected, and he was a little relieved that he didn't have to wear those itch clothing items anymore, he didn't know how he had worn those for over half of his life. Artemis would gladly stick to sweatshirts and jeans.

His study was still the same, though most of his files had been removed, however, Butler had warned him that he had taken those to his new home. Somewhere in Asia, and that was all Artemis knew. Juliet had gotten married to some bloke named Max Hensworth, though she still prefers to be called Juliet Butler. Aside from that, Artemis had little to no knowledge of his family's life. Of course they hadn't known anything about him either, so it was an uneasy bargain.

He knew that people changed all the time, and that he couldn't have changed that, and yet he still couldn't help but wonder what life would have been like without meeting Penny, Lina, or Cammie. Artemis had a tendency to wonder now, he wasn't straight forward as he used to be.

Something snapped him out of his daze, and he heard a rustling noise coming from the hall. It was to quiet to be Butler, for his footsteps would have shook the whole mansion. Instead these were that of a small child. Or something else.

Slowly and as quiet as he could, Artemis crept into the hall, his feet landing on the soft plush rug. It's fraying edges had begun to come undone from the withering years, and it was a shame to Artemis for he had loved that rug, it was his favorite, made by the finest silk in Persia. Artemis continued his descent down the hall, and the noise grew louder, and Artemis recognized it coming from the linen closet at the end of the hall.

Time seemed to stop as Artemis ventured down the path and came to a halting stop in front a linen closet. One of many that were scattered around the mansion. Carefully, as if not to disturb something or whatever was in the closet, Artemis opened the door.

Artemis, Penny, Lina, Cammie, Myles, and Beckett had all been watching an American horror movie. Artemis couldn't quite recall the name of this movie, but it had been about a girl who had found a dead body in an old abandon mansion. This girl, Artemis had thought, was incredibly stupid for opening a door in someone's home. A spooky mansion in the middle of the night, with no flashlight and she had heard a rattling at the end of the hallway.

Something had jumped out of the shadowy closet and killed the girl by gruesomely tearing off her face and leaving her sitting in a pool of her own deep red blood. The kids had been terrified of that movie, and ever since, Artemis and Penny had decreed no horror movies would be played under their roof. And they had stuck to it.

But now Artemis was basically being a hypocrite about that, for he seemed to be like the girl in that movie, going off to find out was in the mysterious closet. Though it wasn't dark out, and he, (obviously), was not a girl. Hopefully this would counter anything that would be like that movie? Artemis thought to himself, most likely just to try and boost his braveness.

And so that was why Artemis reached out and grasped the handle of the door, which was a golden color that had critics criticizing that it was a fake. Though Artemis knew it was real, for you could bite into it and not see a dent on it. Beckett had done it several times when he still lived in the manor, giving Artemis the hard, solid, proof.

Either way, he was trying to get himself off topic so he would not have to open the door. But one way or another, he would open it eventually. Whether he liked it or not.

And so he did.

Then the rats came running out in a pack of about four or five. All brown and grease coated, the rodents stunk like sulfur and Artemis nearly heaved. "Disgusting." muttered the man under his breath, and then relief washed over him. But it was short lived as the real noisemaker in the closet revealed itself with the glowing red eyes in the darkness.

Artemis had no time to even raise his arms up in a defensive stance as the creature launched itself at him.

…...

Butler was patiently making his way through the high grass that had grown around the manor and out to the tool shed. It had been years since Butler had been there, and he had not intended on coming back any time soon. But circumstances had changed drastically.

Artemis was back and with a family to replace all of them. Butler still felt as though Artemis was hiding something from them, though he couldn't place his finger on it.

As he arrived at the shed, Butler noticed some thing strange had happened. The usual large silver pad lock and chain that had once hooked the door closed had been broken and laid in pieces in the grass. Whatever had been broken in here must have had the strength of a mammoth, or as Butler looked at it, a chain cutter. Which was actually sitting on the ground. However, Butler still had the mammoth theory in the back of his mind. But either way, what would have wanted to break into a manor with almost nothing in it?

His curiosity getting the best of him, Butler moved aside a large box that had been set there as if to ward off any unwanted visitors. Though Butler didn't know who would want to come any farther into the grounds than this.

The massive man heard Artemis scream, but then he saw a pair of glowing, blood red eyes peering back up at him from behind a pile of broken tools. The figure and the man stood off to each other, sizing up the other as they looked at one another. But Butler wasn't given enough time as he realized that another pair of eyes from behind a table were glowering at him with a ferocious hunger... and curiosity.

Suddenly, more eyes began to pop up and around Butler, encircling him in a trap that he could not escape from. The figure's stares were hollow as if all the life had been drained out of them but with just enough to keep them living. And hope, hope that they could be cured by this man who had just arrived.

Judging by his stance, they assumed not, but they decided to give him a chance and they gathered around the nearly eight foot tall man. A messiah in their eyes.

And so, Butler watched as the creatures, humans he supposed, kept him in the circle, and they bowed down to their leader.

One wrong move, Butler knew, would set them off and he would be killed within seconds.

This was an interesting turn of events.

**Okay, so I know this is confusing so far, but in the sentence I'm about to write, it will make sense.**

**So these people have inhabited Fowl Manor, without a place to go. But they are experiments of a certain evil scientist. And they hope that they can be cured by someone, anyone so when they see Butler, they believe he can help him.**

** And now, I wish for you loyal reviewers to come up with some of these characters. You don't have to, but I just thought that you should all have a say in some of these characters instead of me adding all of my Ocs.**

** So PM me with your character, one per person, and I need about four or five. I don't want like ten or twenty, because I wouldn't be able to keep track of them all. It would be HARD! So four or five, and here is what I need.**

**Name:**

**Nickname:**

**Age:**

**Personality:**

**Looks:**

**Background (like how Koboi go them, teenage years, kid years, anything.)**

**Gender:**

**Family:**

** PM only, and please I need people of all different ages. That does not mean one person has to be 100, and one has to be a new born baby. Just not all of them are going to be 16, please. **

** And this has been a message from your very own Bookworm2700, and now we are turning it over to Catniss Wrinklesworth (my cat!) with the random fact of the day.**

**Random fact of the day: When you sleep, you have a dream period that usually last about an hour and a half, but you also have about four dreams a night, you just remember the ones that you see. **

**So yeah. Submit some characters other my boring characters will be inserted, so your only hurting yourself that way. I also have the experiment that is attacking Artemis as a character that was mentioned in a previous chapter, and another person.**

**And please review, they changed the button so it looks really cool now! Use it so that we break it in. **

**Read**

**Review**

**Dream!**

**-Bookworm2700 **


	9. Chapter 9: Experiments and Acid

**Disclaimer:**** I unfortunately do not own Artemis Fowl. Because if I did, I would make the series go on forever.**

** Okay, thanks to everyone who reviewed! But the thing that got me was that only 4 people reviewed! Are you losing interest or something? Please review, otherwise it seriously makes me think that you hate this story. Which hopefully you don't, but I wouldn't know that now would I unless you Review!**

** UNKNOWN PLACE I CAN"T TELL YOU!**

Penny, Lina, and Myles all came out in matching uniforms of gray. They were scratchy and uncomfortable, but they all knew better than to complain.

"Now that you have changed, I believe you are ready to know what your jobs are." A door opened to reveal one of the henchmen that had kidnapped Myles and Lina. He took them roughly by their arms, and lead them out of the room and into many hallways, before finally stopping at a large metal door which opened at the touch of a button, and of course many scans and prints along with verification were needed too. Then, the door slid open and the three hostages were shuffled inside to meet whatever awful fate would await them.

** 41 hours, and 29 minutes until Opal's deadline**

Holly was in her office, waiting for Artemis and Butler to return from Fowl manner with the supplies they would need to find and capture Opal. Or so Artemis had said, however Holly had known that the man wanted to see his old childhood home. She understood how it was important to Artemis to see this, for he had been away for so long.

But Holly hadn't expected to be called to the hospital that she would 'want to see this.' in accordance to Trouble. And so, the elf had raced up to Haven Hospital once again.

Now Butler was explaining to her about how these creatures had attacked himself and Artemis when they were at the Manor, and how Butler had managed to save only four, while Artemis saved another. Foaly told Holly that these creatures were Opal's experiments, for each of them were branded with a mark on their necks. The Koboi logo.

Foaly had figured out that the children had been left abandoned for so many years that they went a little insane, okay. Very insane. However. With some therapy the kids had gotten back to normal. Well, five children and one adult.

Holly noted that Artemis wasn't there and Butler said that he had gone to find the twins and make sure they were not torturing Juliet. As she was lead into the room, all she saw were six figures lying on white sheets.

One had short blonde hair, and she was arguing with a boy who looked almost exactly like her, but he had hazel eyes instead of the girls blue eyes. Holly thought they were family at first, then realized they were just close friends. Like what her and Artemis used to be.

Another was a girl with chestnut brown hair that had grown out to mid back, and she had almost white skin, like paper. Her red eyes gleamed as if someone had let her drink a vat full of liquid sugar.

A boy with tan skin, green eyes, black hair and a large nose was chattering away to a boy with blonde corkscrew curls,a chocolate bar in his hands, and blue eyes, who looked like he was ready to kill the boy.

Then Holly realized who the last two figures were. Beau and Gaspard Paradizo.

Foaly cleared his throat when he saw Holly staring at the Paradizo's. He knew this was an uncomfortable situation for them, as he had questioned them before Holly showed up.

"Holly, these are the experiments Butler and Artemis found at Fowl Manor. I'll let them introduce themselves."

The boy and girl who had been fighting recently looked up, and Foaly nodded at them that it was okay to talk. The girl went first.

"I'm Katrena. Most people call me Karma, though." The girl spoke with an almost defiant tone to her voice, as if she were sizing everyone in the room up. "I'm 16. also I'm part elf, and part cat."She said, and all the others in the room were surprised, the girl and the boy looked no more than 14.

The boy seemed to have a more caring tone to his voice, as if he were happy. But Holly saw right past that to see that unlike his friend, he would make a better spy than a warrior like Karma. "Hey. My name's Kitsune. Though I do prefer Redemption, or Dem, for short. I'm like Karma, part elf and part cat." Holly noticed Dem's sharp nails and pointed ears.

It was the albino girl's turn to speak. "I'm experiment 5." Kama and Dem gave her a look and she glared back at them. " Also known as Spearmint. I'm 14 years old, and I was wondering if you had any sugar?" she asked, a devious grin creeping up onto her pale face.

Beau grabbed the chatterbox, who was ranting about some unicorn and Pegasus war that would be happening soon, (**A/n: It will happen, or so my friend says., but be prepared!)** and turned him around to face the new guests. The boys green eyes widened to the size of golf balls. " Hi! I'm Inferno, but for some weird reason everyone calls me Infernal. You know, my parents always used to tell me to 'Stop that infernal racket.' And my last name is Rackquet, which sounds a lot like racket, so I assumed that this was my name. Anyway, I'm 12." The boy continued his rant until Spearmint finally clapped her hand over his mouth.

"And Holly, you know who these last two are." Beau and Gaspard looked up, and their eyes widened at the sight of the elf.

Holly coughed and turned to face the two Paradzios. "Beau, Mr. Paradzio. We need to talk."

…...

"AAARRRRTTTEMMMISSSSSS! Beckett took my doll!" Cammie cried as Beckett hung the doll out over the window sill of the hotel the three were staying in. Artemis rushed over to where Beckett was standing.

"Beckett, give it back."

"Nooooo!" Beckett shrieked like a slow motion falling hero. Soon, he and Artemis were wrestling on the floor with Cammie cheering them on.

Finally, Artemis prevailed, and plucked the doll from Beckett's out reaching hand.

Then, the man promptly delivered it into Cammie's outstretched hands.

Beckett threw himself on the bed and began to scream in outrage.

"Beckett, I swear everyone is going to think I'm murdering you." Artemis stated as he placed Beckett upright and covered the shrieking boy's mouth with his own hand.

Beckett reached out his tongue and licked Artemis's fingers, causing him to jump back and let the boy go.

"Devious devil!" cried out Artemis, and Beckett just laughed. Even Cammie couldn't suppress a smile. They all screamed and laughed and rolled everywhere. Then the figure in the doorway made himself known.

…...

"Mr. Paradzio, what did Opal do to you when you were captured?" asked Holly and the man sighed.

" Opal Koboi kept us in that prison for three years, then released us onto the Fowl Manor grounds. While we were her prisoners, she tried to make different things out of us."

" A few were when she tried to make us into warriors, spy's, masterminds, and evil doers. She was trying to replicate an army of experiments loyal to only her. An army of experiments that she knew could bring down your police unit. She couldn't locate Artemis Fowl and take revenge on him, so Haven was the next best thing. Opal said so many times in her rants and raves to us."

"Has she succeed in this, Mr. Paradizo?" Questions Holly, now thoroughly interested in how Opal Koboi would attempt to gain power once again.

Gaspard gave a loud sigh and placed his graying head in his hands. Holly noted that they were full of small silver scars and scabbed, healing cuts. Signs of torture, the same was with little Beau, who was merely a teenager.

"Yes, Opal Koboi has prevailed in this task, Miss. Short. All of the people in that room back there, us included, were failed experiments. If we could not meet Opal's expectations of a perfect, working, human weapon, we would be banished to Fowl manor. She most likely figured that to get revenge on the missing and eldest Fowl, she would destroy his childhood home with wild and crazy experiments, so that if Artemis ever did come back, he would be greeted with some nasty surprises."

All of the room's residents were shell shocked, with their mouths hanging open with disbelief. Butler was the first one to recover. " Sir, could you please give us some examples of these human weapons."

Beau spoke for his father. " Some had powers, like the ability to fly and be telekinetic. Others she made literal human weapons. They would have chainsaws for hands, or ax feet or legs. One girls hair was made out of tiny knives that only she could control. Some of us, like Dem and Karma, were successful but absolutely refused to cooperate. No matter how much they would be tortured, they never gave in because they knew the difference between right and wrong."

"What did they try to do to you two?" Foaly asked quietly, as if there was someone listening in. Which someone might have been, considering the groups luck this past week.

Beau laughed. "Almost all of us have powers of some sort, but mine is this." the boy stood up, and closed his eyes. Then, his hair became spiked up as if he been struck with 10,000 volts of lightning. Then, the hair strands began to turn silver and Beau's eyes shot open. He then quietly, as if he was picking flowers, plucked one of the hairs off of his head. In a flash of silver, the hair strand had impaled a piece of paper from the desk onto the wall behind Butler, Holly and Foaly.

So Beau could make his hair become silver throwing blades. Interesting. "I probably have the worst and most useless power compared to some of the others." Beau said honestly, and Butler had no doubt in his mind that Opal would, as much as he hated to admit it, most likely succeed if the fairy people went to war against her.

"How many people do you think she has?" asked Holly, knowing somewhere in the back of her mind that it would mainly depend on how powerful and how many of the experiments were.

Beau's face turned to a look of pure grief and fear. "When we were there, there were about 20 people in the first year. It doubled almost every year."

"So nearly 1,280 experiments."

"Yes. And only about a third of those failed, or died in the process." Gaspard said regretfully.

Holly knew instantly that they would need a miracle to make it through this war. Something was coming, something, she was afraid, that Artemis Fowl wouldn't be able to prevent or solve.

…...

Dr. Monce stood in the door frame, three, large, glass syringes in his hand.

"Dr. Monce?" asked Artemis, as he got up, pushing himself away from the two children that had stuck to his legs.

The doctor advanced forward, the needles glimmering off the light that the light bulbs in the room gave off.

"Miss. Koboi will be very pleased, oh yes, very pleased!" He shouted and Artemis instantly backed away, and placed himself between himself and the insane man.

"What do you mean, Dr. Monce?"Artemis asked, taking a step back, making Monce step forward.

"You know what I mean, Fowl. Opal will succeed, and you need to know who's side you are on if you want to survive." the doctor smiled and cackled like a crazy man.

Artemis quickly turned himself and the kids around towards another door that would lead to a dead end, he knew.

"Dead end, Fowl. But of course you knew that." The doctor closed his eyes for a moment, which was just enough time for Artemis shove the kids into the bathroom and shut the door before he swung a large kick upwards, and into the doctor's face.

"I'll take that as their side." snarled the doctor, and launched himself at Artemis.

He dropped two of the syringes, and they cracked on the ground, spewing liquid that ate away at the carpet. Artemis easily dodged the first attempt, and slugged the man

in the stomach. The blow should have knocked out the man, but he merely laughed, a hollow and dark sounding thing.

"You could have everything you ever wanted." hissed the doctor, and brought his leg up to nail Artemis right in the jaw. Artemis felt his jaw dislocate.

"I have everything I could ever want." He whipped his fist into the other mans nose.

"No, you don't. You settled for second best. You settled for another life since you felt that no one could love you again. Especially Holly Short." Artemis froze, and Monce grinned darkly, knowing he was right.

"I'm right, aren't I?" He said in question form, but it was stated as a fact.

This fueled Artemis's ever growing rage. This man had tried to harm him, his family, was working for the women with the same motives, and he had enough. Artemis grabbed a lamp, ripping the thing from it's socket. Then he brought it down over the doctors head, shattering the lamp, and burning in the acid that had begun burning the floor away and made it give way.

**Okay, so thanks for the people who submitted Ocs. They really helped a lot! Now, as I said earlier, please review. Seriously, only about 3 people reviewed last chapter, and I feel like those are the only people who are reading. I get it that most of you readers made this story a favorite, but I can only keep track of this stuff well if you review. So how about at least five reviews, I think that's reasonable.**

** But either way, tell me if I screwed up on anything, and if you feel that I didn't make your character to your expectations, tell me what you would like changed! Okay, now I'm done ranting and raving. The main point is that you tell me how to be a better author and let me know you enjoy the story, and if you don't please let me know what YOU would like done.**

** Sorry to spring up all these super powers and crap, but I needed a good, hard tp beat army, and goblins ain't gonna cut it.**

** So, Random fact of the update: Today, I am going to tell you a question so that you get a random question that will make you guess and get new found knowledge. And here is the health question my teacher told us as a science starter: Which was longer, the longest hiccup attack or the longest coughing attack?**

**Read.**

**Review.**

**HICCUP!**

**-Bookworm2700**


	10. Chapter 10: Lieutenant Grub to you, Fowl

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Artemis Fowl.**

** Okay, so I know it has been a really long time since I updated, but also I have had like no time, and I had a serious case of writers block. It was really annoying, and I have had to tr to start this story many times.**

** Here it is:):**

** A SUPER SECRET PLACE THAT I WILL NEVER TELL YOU. GET USED TO IT.**

Myles had to admit. He was terrified at what this lady was proposing. A life as someone like a superhero, with powers, but they would have to do whatever she told them. Myles had never told anyone, not even his own twin, that he had a secret desire to be like a superhero, but not like this. Not if it meant turning against Remis.

Lina was in a state of shock. She knew better than anyone that superheros didn't exist and that you need to learn to be you're own hero. But something told her that this was just like this, though she had seen a glimpse of something behind one of the glass panes before Opal had drawn a curtain over it. It was that of a man laying on a table, while short people stood over him with lethal looking tools, and they began sawing through him as his shrieks rang through the room. One of the surgeons, or should she say torturer, turned around and smiled a sickening smile at her horrified face.

Penny was thinking. Unpleasant thoughts, at, of course, what this woman was telling them. The main thing was that she would alter them, make them her version of perfect, as Penny thought of it. All they would have to do would be hunt down Remis, and bring him back to Opal. Every time she asked what she would do to Remis, the short woman would just smile a condescending smile and tell her that she wouldn't have to worry about that. This was an issue between the two of them, and Penny had no part in it.

"Now," Opal said with a glint in her eyes as she said it, making the trio shiver upon contact, "You're alternative would be for me to kill you. I would hope that you would not choose this option, for the other is much simpler." Penny felt her face grow white, and she began wringing her fingers together in a worry frenzy. Lina's state of shock had increased to the point where she had begun to see black stars at the edge of her vision, taunting her, teasing her as if to see which she would do.

Only Myles kept himself together, and finally spoke with a strength to his voice that shouldn't have been there, but none the less made up for the silence that Opal seemed to be basking in. "Can you give us time to think?" Opal seemed stunned that someone would ask such a question. Then, she slowly mulled it over in her mind, as if such a simple question could make a difference in her plans. Exactly what Myles was going for.

"Yes. I will give you until sunset." Opal typed, the letters making loud clicks and clacks under her fingers, until an image appeared on the screen that showed the view from outside. It was around 2 o'clock in the afternoon, so they had about six hours, for it was summer, and the sun would be setting in just a few hours. "If you do not meet my demands, then I shall kill you. No bargain will save you, and I will show no mercy. I feel that this should help your decision." With a small smile of victory, Opal sent the trio on they're way and laughed in the glory that had finally taken hold.

Then, the evil genius had a spark of brilliance in her already bright world, and called into her intercom, "Bring me the older girl. I have a few things I would like to show her." Opal would stand by what she said, about showing mercy to no one, for they had been living with Fowl for almost seven years, and now she had leverage over him with these precious prizes. But Opal would take each one into consideration, like how she could see the young boy was just doing this to try and buy time, just as his brother would have. And she knew that could be her downfall. Though, if she could convince that older girl, Penny, that Artemis had been lying and she could not trust him, then maybe, quite possibly, that would rub off on the others, and influence their decisions.

So when the door opened and in stepped the woman, Opal's starting words were, "Do you know this man?" Showing a picture of none other than Artemis Fowl. "For he is a liar, and I need to tell you just what he has done, and what he will do if you and the others do not cooperate with me." It was all downhill from there.

…...

**39 hours, 43 minutes, and 16 seconds till Opal's deadline...**

Artemis coughed up the soot and dust from his lungs, which it seemed had inhaled almost all of the stuff. As he sat up, thousands of dust particles fell from his hair, and rained down in a cascade all over him. He heard another series of cough, though they did not emerge from him. They were from none other than Dr. Monce, who was sitting up, and holding his head.

Three LEP police officers came rushing over, pointing their Netroun 3000 at the pair. "Put your hands where I can see them!" shouted one of the officers, obviously the lead man. Artemis steadily raised his hands into the air, so that the officer had them withing his sight range and saw that Artemis carried no weapons. Dr. Monce was getting up and out of the dust, hoping to make a get away. Instantly, one of the officers was on top of the doctor and holding him down as he struggled under the officers weight.

Another of the LEP, this time the lead officer, helped Artemis up, and took him over to a empty chair then shouted at the civilians, "All right, nothing to see here, clear out!" All of the hotel guests scattered away to their rooms, and the LEP officer took off his helmet, shaking the grime off it.

"Grub?" For the first time in many years, Artemis was completely shocked as he looked at the face of Commander Trouble Kelp's annoying little brother.

"That's Lieutenant Grub to you, Fowl." Grub's voice was mature, as if he had grown up nearly twenty years since Artemis had last seen him.

"Of course... Lieutenant." Artemis secretly hid a smile, though what the smile was for, he didn't exactly know.

"Heard some commotion, and now this happened. Want to explain?" Grub looked at Artemis for an answer, and he opened his mouth to respond when Holly, Butler, Beau, and Foaly came racing in.

"Artemis, what happened?" Holly questioned and Artemis merely sighed and pointed to Dr. Monce who was still being restrained by the two LEP officers. "Ah." was all Holly said before turning to Grub.

"Lieutenant, why did you come over here? Are you not supposed to be in the field, trying to stop those swear toads?" Artemis was shocked that swear toads still existed, for he thought the LEP would have rounded them up by now. Holly just gave a little laugh and said, "Not everything changes when you leave, Fowl. Our world keeps running."

"And so do those damn swear toads." Grub hissed under his breath, and then raised his head to Holly. "I was going to go out into the field to catch those insufferable things, but then I saw the roof of one of the most exquisite hotels fall in, and a loud crash, so I figured I should come check it out. And now we are here. Also, Captain Short, Trouble keeps complaining about how you need to check up on your work. It is getting really annoying, so I suggest you do it before he goes raging."

Holly heaved a heavy sigh at the amount of work she could expect on her desk when she came back. "Okay, I can deal with Trouble later. Right now, I have to make sure that everyone in the hotel is okay, and figure out what to do with old Moncie. Let him go." Holly spoke to herself, then to the LEP officers, who let the doctor down and shoved him in the Captains' direction.

Butler seized the tiny man who gave a girly scream as the large bodyguard picked him up and hoisted him nearly five feet in the air, and tucked him under his arm, which nearly crushed the doctor, though none of the group had any sympathy for him.

"Please wait Holly. I must go get Beckett and Cammie from the room upstairs." And without waiting for a reply from any of the group, he raced upstairs, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

…...

As Artemis opened the door to the room, he nearly fell off the edge of the gaping hole in the middle. It seemed that the concoction that had ate away at the floor had spread, and now pieces of the floor was still falling in. Eventually, it seemed that it stopped and now, there was a hole about ten feet by ten feet sitting in the center of the room. Almost no furniture was left, and the bathroom was on the other side of the hole. Only a small rim of floor lined the outer edge of the hole, just enough for Artemis to get across. He knew that Holly wouldn't be able to carry the kids across such a space, and neither would Butler, for he would not fit. So it was up to Artemis.

Steadily, he placed one foot in front of the other, and made his way across the space, and onto a piece of floor outside the bathroom. "Cammie! Beckett! Come out, it's Artemis." Slowly the door opened, and creaked against the already sore floor, which was fragile to touch. It sent a ripple out and the rest of the outer edging of the floor, and it shriveled up into dust and feel to the ground beneath.

And there, in the door frame, stood Beckett and Cammie, shivering and shaking with fear. Artemis instantly embraced them and walked in. There was no way to get back to the door, that much was clear, and one of the only other options would be to fall down nearly ten stories, and most likely die. Artemis wasn't even sure how Monce and him survived it. But children would never survive it. That much Artemis did know. Then he saw the window on the other side of the bathroom, and how it had long ledges that would spiral down like long ramps, all the way down to the bottom of the building, right above the front doors.

"Beckett, Cammie, I need you both to listen to me very, very carefully. We are going to go out that window, and climb down those ramps. Then, I'll drop off and land on the ground above the front door, and you will jump off after me, and I'll catch you." Artemis knew that the beams were very thin, and he would probably not make it down. But it was worth a try, and he did not see any other option. "Grab onto my back, and then we'll make our way down." Both children nodded, and their eyes were wide in fear.

"Is this safe?" asked Cammie, and Artemis didn't know himself, so all he did was not answer as they all clambered out the window.

The ramps were steep, and with a few steps forward, Artemis felt as if he was going to ride this more like a slide than a ramp. So he sat down, placed his legs in front of him, and schooched down, and urged the children to do the same. This thoroughly embarrassed Artemis to have to slide down like a small child, but it would get them down safely. In a matter of minutes, the trio was down on the main floor, and Artemis nearly cried with relief.

Then he saw how a crowd had assembled under the building, including Grub, Butler, Beau, and Holly, to watch the three mudmen go down the wrap around ramps that encased the building like steel bars. Finally, Artemis knew that he would have to jump off, and he stood up, got into a jumping stance, and jumped off and into the crowd of screaming of people.\

…...

**Okay, so as I said before, this is a long overdue chapter. I had a case of writers block, and will most likely will have more in the future. But for now, don't give up on me. Remember to review if you see anything wrong with the chapter, and I know that this is a pretty pathetic chapter.**

** Anyway, whoever guessed hiccup attack for last chapter is correct. Because the longest coughing attack was about 950 days or something, ( see its been so long that I can't remember the fact my teacher told me!) Where as the hiccup attack lasted, you ready? I don't think you're ready. Well, I'll tell you anyway. It lasted 69 and a half years! God, could you imagine that? I go crazy having the hiccups for three minutes.**

** Funny story, when I was gone over spring break with my friend, (You all should know about that) I got the hiccups, and had them for like an hour. Then, when it was done, my friend had the hiccups. Eventually we just kept passing them back and forth for like three days and it was really annoying. I hated it, and it was really stupid! Hiccups are contagious!**

** Random fact: There are two creidt cards for everyone in the U.S. (By the way, I just look ****up these random facts. From a website called random facts.)**

** So please review! Please! I can not tell you how much I want you all to review. **

** And sorry that I didn't have the OC s in this chapter, but I will probably have them next chapter. **

** Once again review, and can we please try for five reviews? I just really want five reviews, and that is all! Can you people do that for me? Just boost that number up to 60? That is all I want, and it would mean so much to hear what you think. If you hate the story, tell me, if you love the story, tell me.**

**So, as per usual...**

**Read. **

**Review.**

**Enjoy!**

**-Bookwor2700**


	11. Chapter 11: Memories and lies

**Disclaimer: Sadly, the series is over and I do not own it, even if I have all the books and read them all. Unless I have some secret bloodline and am in Eoin Colfer's will someday in the future, and he gives me all rights to the book, I will not own it. :( Anyone finish the book yet? I have and it is great!**

** Excuse for not updating: My shift key broke, so I just got this up, and I usually only use one shift key, so I had to learn to use the other one. **

** Excuse for not updating (Part 2): I just got a french foreign exchange student and she is very nice. We have been going up North and everywhere you could think of. **

** But, I am very determined to update this story, thanks to all the supportive reviews, which I got a lot of, and I just had a spark of Writer's inspiration. HE HE HE HE HE!**

** And sorry about how out of character everyone is. I just re-read the series so they should be better.**

**-p-**

** I am not going to tell you where this place is, because it is super secret.**

"First, my dear, I would appreciate it if you did not look directly at me, as I do not wish to have my beauty seen by such low life." Penny purposely stared right at Opal's face. "Well, I see that you are not going to obey any orders that I wish for you to follow, so I shall just go on with the plan." And this plan consisted of Artemis Fowl's worst moments on a screen big enough to capture it all.

"Luke?" Whispered Lina as she stared into the young boy's face, which was an expression of intense concentration.

"Shh, Lina, I am finding memory. A memory of me at a big stone building, with ivy and towers all around." Myles closed his eyes once more, dreaming of the grounds on which this castle stood, green and trimmed by only the finest of hands. There were three people in the high meadow, walking toward him with barley any grace. Myles soon realized that these people were Remis, Ty, and that burly man who had been at the house only what seemed like days before.

"Myles! I told you not to be playing with my plane. It is a high quality solar-"

"Solar powered with only a battery to get it off the ground. Yes Artemis, I know. You ramble about it all the time." Myles said, knowing about how proud Artemis really was of his work. "And I was not playing with it, I was simply checking if the plane would really work."

Artemis hid his disappointment at his brother's lack of belief behind a business mask. "And the verdict is?" Myles noticed Artemis's discomfort with a satisfied grin.

"It will fly, though a few adjustments could be made to the wings for better aerodynamic coordination. That is all I would fix." Artemis smiled, knowing this, for he had been about to work on it earlier in the day, but said nothing aloud.

"Of course. Butler, when are Mother and Father supposed to be back from Brazil? Today, correct?" Butler nodded, and then Artemis's phone rang, a loud ring that annoyed Myles even from his dream state.

Artemis wearily tapped the phone, and held it to his ear, his face a mask of concern. He then began to shout in rapid fire french, and started to walk away from the group. They all followed him quickly, Butler right by his charges side, which just made him run for one of the few times in his life with exact coordination. He was in the house before any of the others, slamming the door to his office and placing all the security measures on high alert, so that no one could have heard anything beyond the door, much less get in. Butler knew from past experiences.

So no matter how many missions to venture beyond the door and to Artemis, they drastically failed, and they were left to wonder and worry.

Eventually, Artemis unusually shaky voice crackled over the speakers. "Butler, please come in, and send the boys to their rooms." Butler steered the boys away quickly, and waited until he heard their doors close. Then he waited a few more minutes to make sure neither of them got out and tried to come in, before he walked into the office.

Artemis was sitting in a large leather chair, his back facing Butler, his smart phone in shambles by the corner. The desk was messy, and it was almost as if Artemis had gone into a rage. Myles saw that through a secret passage he had found that even Artemis did not know about.

"Butler, that was a call from the French Police Force. You know how Mother and Father were to fly into Paris and then take their car to pick us up, then we were going to the celebrate the twin's birthday in America, New York." Butler didn't respond. "Well, a car ran a red light, and they were turning out of a store, with gifts for the boys. The driver of the car didn't see them until it was too late, and hit the car, killing both of the members." Artemis spoke as though he were stating the facts of another life. Myles could hear the choking sob that escaped him. "Both of them. Dead. Because of that one little mistake." Butler had almost never seen his charge cry, so this was new to him. And once again, he did not know what to do where his strength did not count.

"What should we tell the boys, Artemis? And Juliet?" Butler asked, for he was in a state of shock just as much as his charge was.

Artemis turned around, and his eyes were fresh red, with drops of salty tears dripping down his face. But he quickly tucked it into his hands, running one pale hand through his raven black hair. He whispered for one of the first times in his life, "Butler, I really don't know. I just don't." And he turned his back as Butler left to go break the news to his sister, and they would go from there.

…...

This time, the vision was different from the first. Everyone was dressed in black, dresses, pants, and shirts. There were two coffins in the center of a field, one holding a woman, and another a man. Artemis gripped his younger brothers like life supports as they cried into his stomach. Butler was carefully watching over them, and Juliet stood stoney faced by his side, her mouth bunched in a knot. A few others were there, which Myles recognized as Fowls and Butlers, so this was a private burial.

A priest stood over the two coffins, spouting words that no one was really listening too, just staring into the coffins of the proof. Artemis had almost not come, but Butler thought it would be better if he faced the truth with open eyes. They were gone, and everyone had to accept that.

So as the coffins were lowered into the Fowl cemetery, no one was surprised that Artemis walked away, and back towards the grounds. He sat in the car, squeezing his eyes as if they could block out the images they had just seen. Artemis then gritted his teeth, started the engine, and drove out and away, trying to leave his parents memory behind, even though he of all people knew that it would haunt his dreams for weeks on ends.

…...

Myles woke up to see that everyone was gone from his room. The place was the same, all that was different was that it was far more vacant, what with only one bed in this large room.

"Hello? Lina? Penny? Is anyone there." A sliding door opened, and Penny walked in, her hair washed, and she looked just as she had a few days ago, unlike Myles who wore the drab gray uniform.

"Penny!" He got up off the bed, and rushed to hug her. She stepped away as if he were a deadly disease.

"Stay away from me. I just came in here to tell you that we will no longer be seeing each other. I have decided to take my sister away from you and your brother, Artemis Fowl, so that he cannot hurt her. Instead, we will be undergoing the procedures asked by Ms. Opal. I hope that someday you will agree, Myles, Luke, whatever your name is. Until then, you will executed in two days time. Ms. Opal hopes you can make the right decision." And then Lina burst through the door, two large pixies chasing after her.

"Myles! Myles, please help me! You don't know the terrible things they have in store! Please help!" Myles for once couldn't think of anything to do. Then it hit him.

"Why should I help you? I was just about to tell Penny that I want to do as Opal asks. I've been thinking about it, and decided that this is the best thing to do. We can be super humans, all we have to do is go through a little pain, and then we will conquer this world." Lina looked horrified, and yet Penny looked so proud.

"I knew you would see this as the rest of us see it. This is good for everyone."

No, it is not, thought Myles, it's not. And so he pleaded with his eyes, the same startling blue as his brothers. He hoped that she got that he was lying, doing this for their own good. He finally had a plan, and that was to get all three of them out of this place, as soon as possible.

"Of course. I am ready to be the better of our race, better than my family." And they were escorted out, to either their doom, or their saving grace.

…...

"Artemis, Artemis, wake up. Please wake up." The voice sounded feminine. Artemis groaned as he blinked away the black dots blurring his already sleepy vision.

"What happened?" He asked, rubbing his bruised eyes.

Holly stood before him, wearing her LEP uniform. "You, Beckett, and Cammie were all trapped at the top story of your hotel, and you managed to get all of them out safely. But then, you took a leap into a crowd and got your head pretty banged up. You're alright now, just took some extensive healing."

Artemis let this information sink in. Then he realized who was missing. "Where are Butler and Juliet? Are Cammie and Beckett okay?" Artemis spoke rapidly, and Holly promptly told him to shut up.

Holly slowly breathed in a breath, as if Artemis's rapid fire questions knocked the air from her elfin lungs. "Trouble got the council to have a team of soldiers to go find the Koboi hideout, and rescue the captives, and some more of the experiments. Or, at least, attempt to. Foaly finally managed to trace the signal of Opal's demands call to a point at a warehouse in France. Butler, Juliet, Karma, Redemption, Spearmint, and Beau all went, along with a few recon officers up in front. Karma and Redemption wanted to go to, in these exact words, ' To kick that old ladies butt, and give her a taste of her own medicine.' Though, I do suppose that I had to take a couple of words out of that sentence because of Karama's vocabulary choice." Artemis's eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets.

"Just how long," he asked, deathly calm, that Holly had to fight and resist the urge to step back. "Have I been out." Holly saw no use in lying to him, and told him the truth, and nothing but it.

"'Bout a week." Holly swore that the mud man's eyes were going to fall out of his skull, and that would require even more healing that none of them had the time for.

"A week." Artemis said, more to himself than anyone else, even though there was only Holly in the room at the time.

Holly sighed. "Fowl, that is what I just said, so I would appreciate it if you did not keep repeating everything I say." Artemis simply ignored Holly's comment and started spewing out more questions concerning the kid's whereabouts, and how they are doing, and are they hurt, in a very, non-Artemis sort of way. However, Holly knew that Artemis had come a long way from how he used to be like when he had first met her, if you consider kidnapping someone a proper meeting. He had become a father like character in Myles, Beckett's, Cammie's, and Lina's. He was a husband to Penny, someone who even Holly couldn't deny was kind. So much has changed.

But Artemis was still the same in many ways that contributed as much as he had changed. He was smart, superior acting, still had his different eyes and black hair with pale skin, and he still had a taste for caviar and far to fancy restaurants even after all these years.

"Everyone is fine, and by the way, the rescue team is supposed to be coming back soon, so I suggest that you put some clothes on, and get your act together." Holly said, "And also, I'll be waiting outside for you. I'm giving you five minutes."

"But when is the team going to be back, surely not that soon." Artemis said curiously.

Holly rolled her eyes. "Sure. They are totally not coming in about an hour." As she begun to leave, she turned back to face Artemis. "You know how that day you ran off, how I was at the manor with Foaly, and Mulch?"

"Yes." Artemis said slowly.

"Well, you had just had that complex issue, and Orion admitted that you, or him, whatever, loved me? You said that you would give me time to think about what you had said, and we'd talk about it later."

"Yes." Artemis blankly repeated, not comfortable with where this situation was going.

"I came to the manor to one, pay my respects for the loss of your parents, and two, I thought we were going to talk about that. Artemis, I was going to tell you that...I.I...I.. I loved you. And I think I still do, though if it is like best friend love, or brother sister love, or love love, I really don't know. I just had to tell you that. Because I have been meaning to tell you that for almost seven years."

Artemis took a deep breath, and let it out, doing the same thing over and over again. He had a steady beat going before he said, "Well, Holly, I think we better go look and see if the rescue team is back, please wait outside while I change." And Holly did so, only sparing one last glance at Artemis, wondering if seven years had changed a thing.

Artemis met the gaze evenly, and as they turned away from each other, Holly knew he was wondering the same thing.

…...

The rescue team had come to a long gray warehouse, that looked empty and deserted.

"This is the place?" Asked Karma asked angrily.

Butler looked around as if it would suddenly be clear where the lab was. "According to Foaly, yes. Let's wait for the recon officers and have the bubbles to do a sweep before we go in." Foaly had built a set of bubbles, like the ones you would find in a mud man store, but filled it with technology that could not be detected by any sort of device, and they did a full on sweep, and gave the information back to Foaly. They were designed to look childish and innocent, and were often used in recon missions such as this one.

Dem. Karma, Spearmint, Juliet, and Beau all cracked up. "Dom, not even you can make that sound** (A/:N: I know that this is like a scene in The Last Guardian, so I give credit for this idea.)**

remotely tough." Juliet managed between hysterical giggles.

Butler straightened his jacket, which was squeezing his torso, before standing up.. "The sweep is done, let's go in." He turned back to his team, and saw that they were all staring at him, tears in their eyes. "Well? Come on, let's go." As Butler walked forward, someone called to him.

"You're not denying it!" Said the voice, though Butler couldn't place who it was. However, the group did follow him, and as soon as they took one step closer, the building filled with smoke that intoxicated all of their lungs.

"Get out of here!" Butler shouted shooing them all out with his abnormally large hand.

Everyone began to get out of the smoke filled building, Butler right behind them, when he heard a voice. "Butler, help me! Help me, please, Butler. Please." He instantly recognized the sound of Myles's voice, and yet his first instinct, his soldiers instinct, told him to run, and yet, a tiny figure appeared in the fading smoke, another figure next to him, and a large figure in between them both.

"Myles? Myles, are you okay?" A cough emerged from Butler, and he knew that he would have to get out quickly before the entire place collapsed on top of them all. Which would be in about a minute. Sixty seconds. Sixty seconds to get them all out of here.

Butler rushed to Myles's side, and saw that his black hair was close cropped like his own, and his skin was a series of small scrapes. Lina and Penny were no better, they just had they're usually long hair cut to their ears.

"What happened?" Was Butler's first question to ask out of instinct, but he once again was a soldier, and he knew well enough from many years of shenanigans, that the Fowl boys would rather put their plan into action, and talk about it later, and sometimes that was just the way things worked. It was difficult not knowing what that plan was, or if there even was one, but you just had to go and do what was right. And, at that moment in time, the right thing to do would be to get them all out of this building before it fell over their heads.

So, Butler picked up Penny, Lina, and if Myles had his brothers' lack of coordination even after all these years then they would be in big trouble if he wasn't being carried like the rest of them. Up Myles went, and Butler could swear he heard the roof creak, and that just made him run faster to the tiny patch of light that was the doorway. He knew that the roof was falling in behind him,so he ran harder and as fast his his large legs could carry him, before sliding out the door like a baseball player sliding onto the plate. A quite large baseball player at any rate.

Butler nearly sighed with relief as he heard the building crumble in on itself, and felt the sun on his face, and three people hanging onto him for dear life. But he didn't as more senses came back to him, that of a revolver being clicked, and it's steel barrel against his head.

…...

**I would love to say that I stayed up all night finishing this like most authors claim, but one, I do not have a laptop, no matter how many times I beg for one, and two, my mother made me go to sleep. Which I find quite stupid, since I never get any sleep anyway. And so, here I am at 12, typing on my computer with it's messed up shift keys for you.**

** Anyway, review, review, review! That is all I ask. If you like it, if you hate it, if you hate me for not updating, then say it. I'm all for it. This story got almost ten reviews last time, though one of them was a friend of mine who knows almost nothing about this story, so why she would review, I have no idea.**

** But, I hope you liked it, and I know the OC's didn't play a huge part in this chapter, but they'll be in and out as the story goes on, and I will try to put them in where it fits.**

** Be warned, I do not really get the whole Holly/Artemis thing, because she is from another species, and I just think they are better off friends. But I don't really have anything against that paring, so don't get all hissy at me for that. I am fine with them together, I just think it is a little weird. But, weird is good. So, Theycamefrombehind, I may just kind of end it in a different way, a bit how The Last Guardian ended, with no really definition to who gets together with who.**

** Though I just had to add some Artemis and Holly drama in there. :) I couldn't resist.**

** Also, Rynn Wolfe, I might just use that OC later on in the story. **

** Random fact: Polar Bears are left handed. **

** So if you get a letter from a polar bear, know that they wrote it with their left hand.**

** I will attempt to update as soon as possible, and reviews won't kill this story, so do that please. **

**Read!**

**Review!**

**Polar bear letters!**


	12. Chapter 12: The Troll

**Disclaimer: The day I own Artemis Fowl, will be the day pigs fly:)**

**Sorry for the long wait, I'm hoping to update sooner. I've been getting a lot more homework, but that's fine. **

** My keyboard broke for a while, which is another reason why I couldn't update.**

** I just found out I have to get braces, and I really don't want too. Though it is fun to argue about it with my mother. :)**

** But here is another chapter, Hope you like it!**

…**...**

** CONTROL ROOM, POlICE PLAZA, HAVEN CITY.**

Artemis didn't know what to expect as he paced around the control room. It had been over two hours since he had woken up, and the rescue team had not come back. In fact, they hadn't signaled any information at all, and Foaly was trying desperatly to find out what happened.

"Well?" Artemis demanded. "Did you find anything?" Foaly had grown extremly inpaitent with the mud boy, and no matter what Holly tried to do to calm him down, it didn't work.

"Not yet, mud boy. If you perhaps gave me some room to breathe instead of looking over my shoulder constantly-" Foaly grunted.

"Well maybe if you let me take control I could easiliy find them!" Artemis shouted, and Foaly turned around, his face red with rage.

"Mud boy, if I do remember clearly, it is your fault we're in this mess!"

"No. I left because you saw me as an unfit gaurdian for the twins. You thought I was weak. I think I had every reason to leave!" Artemis shouted, and Holly stepped onto a chair to put a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Arty. I think that you should calm down." Holly's voice was layered with mesmer, and if anything, it just infuriated Artemis more.

He roughly shoved Holly's hand off his shoulder, "I don't want to calm down! My brothers', my family, is at risk! How can you expect me to be calm?" Artemis stated, his hands clenching the back of the chair he had been using before.

Holly sighed. "You're Artemis Fowl. At one point, you were all about being calm, plotting, and saving Haven. Go back to that person, Arty. Be the hero you once were."

"I was a hero, Holly, to my brothers' to my family. But you all just had to find me. I left for a reason, I didn't want to be found. I am a hero, and I don't want to ever go back to the way I was." Artemis snapped, and stormed out of the room.

"That boy is going to be the death of me." Holly mumbled, trying to keep the room from falling into awkward silence.

"I know." Was all Foaly replied before turning back to his work.

…...

**ABANDONED WAREHOUSE, FRANCE.**

They were screwed. Dead. Not going to be alive in the next hour. Karma knew that, it was a fact, not an opinion.

Tall men as big as Butler with ski masks over their heads had guns pointing at all of their heads. The one on the back of Karma's head was quite annoying, and all she was waiting for was the right moment. One moment that would give her the chance to get away.

Dem met her eyes, and knew the same thing. All they had to do was wait.

"Hey! You two! No looking at each other, okay? Now, Miss. Koboi wants all of ya, so we best get moving. Hurry up now!" The leader shouted. Butler easily could have taken him, but instead he paitently waited.

Their captors beat their knees with guns, forcing them to stand up even though they wanted to crumple with pain. The group was lead into the rubble of the old warehouse, and to the exact center. Dust billowed all around them, and Spearmint coughed, her eyes watering.

"General 23, with the prisoners!" Shouted the general, and then the floor dropped out from underneath them.

Later, Myles would tell them that the floor was really just a tube leading five-thousand feet underground, to where the laberatory was. But at that moment, the group was terrified.

When they finally reached the bottom, Karma let out a few cuss words, and stood up, brushing herself off. General 23 had taken them to a large room that had dirt and bedrock walls, with supports so that it wouldn't crush them. It was lit with a line of lightbulbs every thirty feet or so, and came to an end at three tunnels. Lightbulbs lit all but one of them, and the group was led down the hall on the left, opposite of the one with no lights.

"Where are we going?" Beau snarled, and was wacked over the head with the General's gun.

"Shut up." The soilders cackled with glee, and Beau opened his mouth to say something, but a glare from Butler made him silent.

"Here we are. In! All of ya! Miss K. will be in here soon." The General closed the door, and let the prisoners observe their surrondings. It was a bleak room just like the hallway, with a cement floor. Video cameras were everywhere, recording their every move and sound.

Spearmint looked shaken up, her skin even whiter than usual. "What do we do?" She whispered, her voice slowly crescondoing to a high pitched noise. "We're going to die! Why didn't we fight? We could have taken them!" She was ringing her long hands nervously, and everyone was silent.

"We are not going to die. And we came here on a mission to rescue the hostages, and that is exactly why we did not fight back." Butler stated calmly, and then the door flew open.

Opal Koboi stroed in, clothed in a neon pink jumpsuit in a children's size. "Hello, losers. I hear your here because of your little friends." Butler held a large hand on Juliet's shoulder to keep her from pouncing on the pixie. Myles was her charge, and she hadn't seen him in so long. She missed him, and would do anything to get him back.

"Well here they are." Opal's smirk grew larger, which Dem knew was not a good sign. He had been under Koboi's control for a year, and 'the smirk' was nothing but bad news.

Penny walked in first, her once blond hair dark from the dank underground cavern. The woman's eyes showed nothing but cold determination, a darkness that hadn't been there before. Lina walked in next, her hair a frizzy mess, her eyes darting from side to side in a scared manner. Myles was last, and he looked just like a young Artemis. He was almost the same age, and his black hair was neatly combed back. The boy's blue eyes yearned for Butler to understand something, but he couldn't tell what it was. Hope? Desperation? Sadness?

"Now, do you three want to go back to these traitors?" Opal stuck her head in between Lina and Myles, grinning at the group in front of her. Butler was breathing hard, he had to get back into shape after all of this. If there was an after.

"No." Penny said.

"YES!" Lina screamed, thrashing around, until finally a guard hit her over the head with the barrel of his gun. That caused the screaming to cease, and they watched in horror as tears cascaded down her face, forcing Lina into a fatal position. Penny did nothing but watch in fright, like she knew this was wrong, but couldn't do anything to stop it. Though the woman said nothing. That was the worst part.

"I'll ask again, girly. Do you want to go back to these traitors after all they have done?" Opal snarled, kicking Lina and bending over her.

"N-N-no." Lina stuttered out, and received one last kick from Opal, causing a rib to break. The sound echoed across the cold room as a skater glided on the ice. Spearmint moved to cover her ears, and a guard slapped them away, making her listen to the gut-renching sobs.

"Now, Myles. What about you?" Opal layered on the sweetness, like she was a mother talking to a small child.

Myles placed his hands behind his back, which was too the wall, and stared straight at Opal. Her smile was as fake as plastic, and he saw right through it. But he smiled back, and something dropped out of the air.

"Oh! I'll get that Queen Koboi." Myles rushed to pick up a fallen hair clip that had dropped, using only one hand to pick it up. The other stayed behind his back.

"Thank you, Myles." Myles smiled. It was almost as fake as Koboi's, he had been practicing it all day.

"Your welcome, Queen Koboi." Myles knew that Koboi was all about manners, because he had seen her hit any of her pixie guards whenever they used improper grammar. Over the few days he had been out of his cell, that was one of her quirks he had noticed.

"Myles, your answer please." Koboi's smile was fading as she lost paitience with the boy.

"No of course." Myles said, and Butler felt like all hope was lost.

Koboi clapped her small hands together. "Well then! Now you see that I have won and you've lost!" The pixie bragged, and then Myles spoke up again.

"No, I _want_ to go back to those "traitors"."Myles took his hand out from behind his back, and pointed a gun at Koboi. "You are going to release these people, and Lina and Penny."

Opal laughed, all though it was a nervous one. "Why should I?" She pouted. "I won't do it. You barely know how to hold that gun, muchless shoot it."

"Yes, but I do." Butler rose, and Opal whipped around, red hair flying. All of the guards were knocked unconsious, on the floor, and the others were getting up too.

"No!" Opal slammed a red button on the wall, and emergency lights started flaring. Footsteps rang out in the corridor, and they sounded close.

"Come on! Let's get out of here!" Dem said, grabbing onto Karma's waist, hauling her out the door. Spearmint rushed over to the guards, and quickly snatched all of the guns, with the help of Juliet. Butler threw a thrashing Penny over his shoulder, along with Myles and Lina. Beau raced after everyone else. Penny's shrieks for help and pounding fists, just annoyed Butler, who continued to race down the hallway with the others. There were guns for each of them, (The newest Opal design.). Myles navigated them through the halls, until they reached the room where they had originally been cast to. The three tunnels remained dark and seemed to go on forever.

Myles went over to a keypad, while the thud of boots pressured him. He looked at the small screen, holding a single set of numbers, which had to be used to make an 11 number string, therefor would grant them permission to shoot to the surface. The only problem was that he had no idea what that number could be.

Meanwhile, the guards were getting closer. Karma swore she could see their shadows on the wall. Dem shifted nervously, waiting for the attack. Spearmint was still trying to figure out how to shoot the gun, which was proving dificult, since she didn't want to hurt anyone. That was part of the reason she had not been suitible for Opal's army. Juliet was smiling, twirling her blond hair around one finger. It didn't matter that it had been years since she fought a fairy. Holly let her come to Haven once in a while to have a grudge match with the pixies.

Butler was the only one that saw two sets of footsteps creeping up on them to the right, the one where no lights were shinning. Dust crumbled down from the ceiling, and Butler brushed it aside. The ceiling falling would not improve his day.

"Come on, Artemis!" Butler shouted to Myles, momentarily forgeting that it was the younger boy. All the fairies, and fighting, and scheming, had reminded him of the days he, Artemis, and Holly had. Myles looked and acted just like Artemis, maybe a little bit more light hearted and kind, but none the less they had the same logoical mind.

Myles wanted to tell Butler that he was Myles, that he didn't want to be compared to Artemis. Opal had showed him what Artemis had done. But those were only the bad parts. He refused to believe that his brother was evil. Artemis, Remis, whoever he was, the man Myles knew was not like that.

Then, his mind clicked into place. His tiny fingers moved a mile a minute, and wizzed over the keypad that was embeded into the steel supports which kept the rock from crushing them. More dust fell.

The sets of footsteps grew closer, until finally two children stepped into the light. One looked to be about twelve, with long blond hair, dark eyes and lashes, and a pale, thin frame. Her companion was a girl about fourteen, with a gold eye that was like the sun, and a pure black one, glowing in the dark shadows. They were an interesting contrast. The twelve year old wore only the drab uniform, which she had managed to get a black color of.

"You guys need help?" The older one asked, looking towards Myles. Her eyes focused in on him, making the little boy feel as if they were petrifying.

Karma scoffed. "What? No! We're doing fine on our own!" Dem covered her mouth, and looked towards Butler for reassurance. The retired bodyguard looked over the two girls, then nodded.

"What are your names, ages, and why would you want to help us?" Redemption asked, and the little girls spoke up first.

"I'm Lil. I'm twelve, and I want to help you because Opal is mean. She deserves to be stopped. And if you guys will do that, then I'm all for helping you." The little one said, and Butler watched her eyes to make sure she wasn't lying. Lil wasn't.

The older girl spoke up. "I'm Rynn. Fourteen, a shapeshifter, and all thanks to Opal. I want to help for the same reason Lil does." Rynn jerked her thumb at the little girl.

Karma was about to blow. "Nuh-uh. This is for people like us, outcasts. You all were Opal's precious perfect experiments.-"

Rynn cut her off. "Not by choice, and we were going to be tossed anyway. We want to help. And from the looks of it, you need all that you can get."

Spearmint was the first to speak again. "I say we let them help." Her voice was soft, and the Lil smiled at her.

An argument broke out between the experiments, before Juliet finally had enough. "Stop it! We don't have time to argue! These people are sincere, and they're right. We need all the help we can get." Beau nodded his blond head in agreement, as did the rest of them.

"Butler watch out!" Myles shrieked, and Butler turned to see the rest of the guards sneaking up behind him. Yeah, he really needed to up his game.

Fighting broke out, and gunfire rained all around.

Rynn sprinted over to where Myles was standing, frantically trying to figure out the code. "Move aside, short fry." Rynn said, and started punching in numbers. Myles had gotten the first part, and Rynn helped him get the second part.

"Hurry!" Juliet yelled, grabbing a burly pixie and slamming him into the nearest wall. More flooded through the tunnels, and it seemed as though it would never end.

Rynn pumped her fist into the air, and screamed, "Got it!" The group formed a tight circle around the opening to the tube, and fended off the rest.

Butler man handled a group of pixies with one arm, sweeping them across the room, and into some grumpy gnomes. "Juliet, you go first! Your the one with the kid, and take Myles and Lina with you." Butler pushed his sister towards the pod, which could seat three. Juliet pulled the children into the pod with her.

A small poke at his side told Butler that something was wrong. He looked down and saw Lil, who was staring across the room with wide eyes. Something large was being carried down the hall, Opal in the lead. She smirked at Butler, and he barely heard the others getting into the pod. Now, only him, Dem, Beau, and Lil were left.

The first roar was like shattering glass, and all of the soilders fell to their knees, covering their ears. A large steel cage holding something thirty feet tall, with a mop of what looked like fur, and curled limbs was dragged into the center of the room.

"T-T-Troll!" Wailed Lil, and Butler turned around. Dem, Beau, and Lil looked back at him, their faces terrified but determined.

He made a decision. "In the pod, NOW!" He shouted, shoving them all in, and shooting them to the surface. If he died, Butler wanted it to be in the place of those kids.

Opal lifted a large key, the perfect size of the lock on the cage door, and inserted it, agonoizingly slow, basking in her glory. Butler was on edge, wondering if he would make it out of this alive.

…...

The whir of the pod told him that he only had to survive five more seconds. Soilders scattered, and hid behind the troll, cowering in fear. Opal smirked one last time, and opened the cage door.

…...

** Well, there's your chapter! Hope you liked it!**

** Remember to review. I love criticism, but only stuff that will build me into a better writer. My motto is that you can only improve. I plan on updating this a lot more.**

** The story will probably end with a bout 20-25 chapters, so it's coming. Just wanted to warn you. School may get busy, but I will update more than I have been in the summer. I plan on finishing this story before Christmas/New Years.**

** Thank you for all the reviews! I loved them! And I liked the OC's, but I'm not taking them. It was mostly for that one chapter, but I am glad that I get to work with these new characters! Please tell me if I did something wrong with your characters. For the reviewer who made Lil, is it okay if I change her name to Lilly? Something like that? Because there is already a Lina in this story.**

** There was like twenty reviews, and that was great! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I don't expect that many this chapter, but at least five would be nice! They encourage me to write more. I know that I haven't updated even with twenty or so reviews, but it's just that summer is really busy for me!**

** Most importantly, I hope you all enjoyed the story, because for me, that is the main thing!**

**Random fact: The King of Hearts is the only king without a moustache. :)**

** FYI: Moustaches freak me out, and I really don't know why...**

**Read.**

**Review**

**Moustache**

**-Bookworm2700 (Who is going to update soon!)**


	13. Chapter 13: Reunions and DRAMA!

**Disclaimer: Once I start owning Artemis Fowl, and Eoin Colfer doesn't, I'll tell you. :)**

** Here lies the chapter that was asked for! Thank you all for reviewing! It's weird how I have more time to update during school, than during the summer. 0_0**

** You all probably wanted to see some Butler vs. Troll action, but I don't think I'll put that in here. Later, I promise. But right now, they're going to get out!**

** Anyway, I hope ya'll enjoy!**

Butler had fought only one troll before. And he had come close to dying, but then he was saved by Captain Holly Short of the LEP Recon. That had been nearly fourteen years ago. A good seven of those years had been spent not trainging. The rest were either with Artemis, or searching for Artemis.

The troll's matted fur had a grotesque appeal, a rusted red, dark and damp with blood in some places. It had visious fangs and talons, with bones braided in it's hair. What, or who, the bones were from, Butler didn't know. And he hoped he never found out.

One of the most important things Butler had learned at Madame Ko's acadamey, was knowing when to fight or fleet. When it was impossible to keep the charge safe, and fight the enemy, then you fled. Screw your honor, or however big your pride was. You got out of there.

That was exactly what he did. He squished himself into the pod, and watched Opal's face turn into an expression of pure hatred and rage. "What are you idiot's doing? Get h-" She was cut off by the sliding pod doors, and Butler soon arrived at the surface.

He slammed to the ground, and felt a small hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Lil, her coco eyes boring into his. "He's okay!" Lil shouted over her shoulder, her uniform nearly swalloing her whole.

Juliet rushed over, the rest of the recon team following close behind. "Dom!" Juliet screamed, throwing her arms around him, squeezing him till he felt like there was no air left to breathe.

Butler carefully untangled himself from his sister, and survyed the rest of the group. No one was hurt, except for a couple of scrathches and bruises that would definetly wake them up in the morning.

"What happened to Penny?" He asked, scanning over the girl's limp form. She had been tossed over Dem's shoulder, her hair hanging loosly around her head, eyes closed as though she was sleeping.

Rynn shrugged her shoulders sheepishly, "What can I say? Chick was getting annoying." Butler could only agree.

"Now, let's get back to Haven. Artemis will want to hear about this." Butler said, and started to blaze the trail ahead, wondering what everyone was going to think of this.

…...

Opal Koboi stomped her small feet on the ground, grabbing guns at random times, and trying to shoot at innocent bystanding guards. None of them noticed a hairy, too big to be human, thing filling the room. So he left. Simple as that.

The troll, who's name was Troll, wasn't stupid like his brethren. He was probably the smartest of his family, always getting more food, and being able to live on his own. He was rational. And he knew how to hold a grudge.

Troll had a grudge against his captor, Opal Koboi, and one against the man who had run. Butler. That's who he was going to kill next. The big man left a strong scent, which Troll quickly followed up the pod shaft, and towards the sunlight.

Sunlight bothered him only slightly, as one might find a fly simply a minor annoyance while they watched T.V. That was exactly how the troll felt. The only thing blocking him from his goal, was a simple pod. He ripped it out of the shaft, and threw it upwards, the squeal of metal on metal screaming in his sensitive ears.

Rays of sun beamed down on the beast's face, and he looked up to it. The scent of his prey was strongest here, and he knew that it wouldn't be long. Butler would be dead before he knew what was happening.

Troll would make sure of that, he promised, as he lumbered away, hot on the trail of his prey

…...

Artemis paced the streets of Haven, eventually residing to his room in a new hotel. No evil doctors were going to be breaking in here and trying to kill him. Foaly had assured him of that.

Beckett was making paper airplanes, and making them fly across the room. Cammie was reading a book, and laughing at something one of the characters said.

Holly had tried calling the room all day, and Artemis and simply ignored her the best he could. He didn't want to talk about their...fight? Disagreement? He didn't even know what to classify what happened today as. Cammie and Beckett knew something was wrong, so they stayed in their independent activities, not answering the phone.

The phone started ringing, and wouldn't stop ringing. It seemed to go on for hours, until Artemis finally decided to grow up and answer it.

"Hello?" He heard a sigh of relief on the other end of the line.

"Oh, thank god! You're okay! I thought that you were hurt, or some psycho attacked you again." Holly ranted, and he smiled a bit at her concern.

"Well, I'm fine. Just needed some time to think." An pregnant pause came over the line, and then Holly spoke again.

"Butler came back. He's got your family with him, and they're okay. So is the rest of the recon team. Butler had a little run in with a troll, but he's okay, since he managed to get out before it attacked. Do you want me to send Myles and Lina up to you? Or do you want to come see them?" Holly asked, and the cautious way she manurvered around Penny araised suspision in Artemis.

"What about Penny? Is she okay?" Holly's voice caught a bit on the other line, as if she was hoping, by some miracle, that he would forget about his wife.

"Um, yeah. She's fine. Thing is Artemis, she um isn't-"

"I'm coming to see her." With that, Artemis hung up the line.

"What was that about? Are they back?" Cammie egerly asked, and both children looked up to him, leaving their books and airplanes on the floor.

"Yes. We're going to see them now. Get your coats." Artemis couldn't help a smile creeping up onto his face, and watched it become contagious. Cammie and Beckett chattered away on everything they were going to show their siblings in Haven later on. Artemis wondered if Penny and his sibling were okay.

…...

Holly paced the room, and Foaly rested his hands on his stomach, thinking in his customized chair.

"So, what your saying is that the mud-boy's wife hates him now, and is completely loyal to Koboi?" Holly clenched and unclenched her fists.

"Yes, I'm saying that, you nitwit. I've said it nearly five times already! And he's coming to see her right now with the kids. What will her little sister think? Her sister is nuts! Root would know how to handle this." Holly whispered the last part sadly, and Foaly knew that she was simply beating herself up. Holly wished that Root was still alive, and the centaur did too. He had only Holly and Trouble to tease now, and no one to yell at him that he was going to down his salary for a decade. Though, Foaly didn't miss that too much, especially since Trouble was beginning to do it more and more often.

"I'm pretty sure that Julius Root would be doing exactly what you're doing, Holly. Now stop worrying, suck it up, and tell Fowl. Trouble's away at a mission in Atlantis, so you're next in charge." Foaly commanded, readjusting his tin foil hat.

"Who's next after me? Why can't they do it?"

"Well, most of the other's are away with Trouble, sooo," Foaly made the calculations in his head, and counted them off silently on his fingers. "Me. I'd be next." Foaly grinned at her, and Holly counted to ten in her head._ Do not hit Foaly, not matter how big of an idiot he is. _She repeated this over and over again.

"Then you do it!"

"What?" Foaly sounded completely outraged. "No way! I'm not putting up with that!"

Holly started to argue, but then Artemis came in the room, and she forced a fake smile onto her face.

"Fowl, Holly has something to tell you." Foaly blurted out, then saw the look in his commanding officer's eyes, and nervously got up, and trotted out of the room, most likely saving his life.

"D'avirt." Holly swore, and looked back up at Artemis.

The man had a crazed look in his eyes, like the Greeks after the Trojan war. He was finally getting what he wanted, his old life back, his wife, his brother, and his adopted daughter, back. Holly wanted to cry. She wanted to cry because he wasn't sad about leaving his old life behind. Artemis Fowl was different, and as much as she wished that he could be changed back, she knew it wasn't possible.

"Where are they?" Artemis released the kids, who stared up at Holly with large eyes, and it broke her heart.

"Arty, here's the thing. I need to tell you that- that- that Penny isn't the same. Opal... changed her. She thinks you're evil, and that you can only bring harm to her and her sisters. Dr. Argon is working with her right now, and trying to get her to see the good things about you, but he's not making much progress. He wants to work with her more, and try new techniques, before she sees you. This is for both your, and Penny's safety. I'm sorry." Artemis's face grew pale, and Cammie started to cry.

Beckett looked like he wanted to cry to, but he just buried his head in Artemis's stomach, while his brother rubbed his back. Cammie did the same, and he stroked her hair, making small noises to calm them down.

Meanwhile, Artemis got a dazed look in his eyes. A look like he was a kid who had just lost his favorite stuffed animal. Hollowness, was Holly's closest guess to what he felt. She knew, because when her own mother had died, she felt the same way. That hollowness followed you around, no matter how hard you tried to get rid of it, it just stayed there, clinging.

"What about Myles? And Lina? Are they okay?" Artemis asked, staring at Holly, even though the vaccancy had taken over him. He may have been looking at him, but she knew that he was just wondering aloud.

"They're fine. I can bring them in if you want." Artemis merely nodded his head, and sat down in a chair, pulling Cammie and Myles down with him.

…...

Myles wanted to hate his brother. He wanted to hate him with every single ounce of his being, but he couldn't find it in him. The boy remembered one day, when he asked Artemis about his past, and the older boy's face had gone gaunt.

_"Well, I'll admitt that I've made some bad decisions in my life time, and would rather not talk about them. But, I started making better decisions when you guys came along. Some friends of mine made me shape up, taught me how to be good. You guys also helped in everyway possible. I wish that I wouldn't have made some of the decisisons that I've have, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Because of those decisions, I got you guys, and I made loyal friends. So, I may not want to tell you about my past, because I'm trying to leave the past in the past, and make myself a better life. Be a better person. And that's all I want." Artemis had said, and smiled at his younger brother, which made Myles smile back, even larger than his brother, wondering what on earth his brother could have done that was so bad._

Now, Myles finally knew what his brother had done. What he had wanted to change. And Myles honestly couldn't blame him. He would have done the same thing, but not as his brother had.

He wouldn't have hid himself away, and tried to leave everything in the past, he'd try to accept it. Some how, some way. But, some things, the human mind doesn't want to come to terms with. And if Artemis had hated admitting that he was wrong, then it would make everything about the entire situation become even harder.

So, as he stared at his brother while his siblings cried with him, he could only stand. He wanted to cry too, but that wouldn't help anything. That wouldn't help his brother, who bore far more burdens than he should have, that wouldn't help the elf in the corner, and that wouldn't help the situation. War was coming, and they all needed to pull their acts together.

Artemis wasn't crying either, because he was too busy comforting everyone else. His eyes only held a vaccancy that scared him, and then it hit him. Myles figured it out. Finally, he had figured it out.

It was like losing another life. Artemis had run away from one life, and found someone who he had built up another life with. To Artemis, he was given some miracle to start a new life, fix his mistakes, and ensure that his brother's didn't make the same ones as himself. Myles could get that.

Eventually, the kids ran out of tears to shed, and instead started to fall asleep. Maybe they were starting over in their dreams, just like Artemis had done. Myles wanted to tell them that they could only run for so long, look at Artemis. Seven years of hiding from his life, from the truth, trying to get away from a life that he had already lived to it's fullest, and faced more hardships than any fifteen year old should face.

Artemis turned to Holly, and thanked her for bringing his family back to him, and she simply nodded her head, while he thanked the others in the room. Then, Artemis and a buff man who he called 'Butler', picked up the children and carried them to the hotel.

Myles followed distantly, and watched Artemis turn around every few minutes to make sure that he was still behind him. Artemis and Myles were a lot a like in many ways, and he knew from the past, that when something upseted them, they needed their space. Artemis recognized this, and gave his brother time to mul things over in his head.

Soon enough, they were back at the hotel, and Butler left. Artemis layed the kids on the beds, and went to go sit on the couch, listening to the bustle of Haven down below. Myles sat on the edge of the bed, and waited. He waited for his brother to say something, to comfort him, to tell him it was going to be okay, even though it wasn't.

For one mesely second, he thought that Artemis was going to get up and go by him, but he only got up for a cup of coffee. He sipped it slowly, and then when he was done, the room was back in silence. It reaked of sadness, hopelesness, and a bitter sweet feeling.

Finally, Artemis turned toward his brother, and whispered, "Come here." So Myles did, and cried, for once, letting himself run away from everything. And it was nice.

…...

The troll dropped down the magna chute, and hooked his large talons on the rock, slowly coming to a stop.

The scent was even stronger, and he had been following it all day. All day, and all night. He wouldn't rest until he finally faced his challenger, defeated him, and added his bones to the large collection in his hair. It would be considered unworthy of an opponent to run, and the troll would not stand for it.

So, he had followed the trail here. To this chute, he found a tunnel, and started walking. The scent grew stronger and stronger, soon enough, he was upon it.

HAVEN CITY! A sign read, and the troll formed what could be thought as a grin, though his tusks ruined the entire image.

The troll had found his prey, and he wouldn't stop until it was dead.

…...

** I'm so sorry that was such a short chapter, it's just that I really wanted to get this up. So, I ****hope you liked it, and yeah. Not much more to say.**

** Random fact of the day: Karoke means 'empty orchestra' in Japanese**

**Review! Thanks for all the support guys! It means a lot that so many people reviewed!**

**Sorry for the amount of drama in this chapter, but every story has one.**

**Hope you enjoyed it!**

**Read.**

**Review. **

**Enjoy!**


	14. Chapter 14: Not like they used too

**Disclaimer: The minute I own Artemis Fowl and not Eoin Colfer, I will probably be killed so that some other fan girl can have the ownership. Until then, all rights belong to Eoin Colfer.**

**I am SO sorry for updating, and I am not a lying type of person. I am going to be completely honest, because this story does involve you, because you like it, and you expect me to update it more often than I do. I expect so too.**

**So I'm going to tell you quickly why I didn't update. A lot of school and other activities, but lately I just have had trouble kind of getting a chapter started. But once I get going, I'm on for the ride.**

**And my computer completely crashed, erasing the chapter I had originally started.**

**On with the story!**

Butler awoke with a start to screams. Small, high-pitched screams that echoed off the walls and ran throguh the hotel like an icy knife being stabbed over, and over, and over again.

He threw back the covers, and shoved his large feet into custom made boots. Racing down the stairway, he quickly made it to the bottom level of the hotel, which looked like a tornado had hit it, making chaos imminet. But for the first time in his life, Butler felt a terror return to him that he had only felt a few other times.

Because there, in front of him, stood a troll. It's tusks were yellow, it's fur a rustic red standing out all over the place as though he had been zapped with an electric shock, but then a bucket of blood had been dumped on him. Bones were bradied in his hair, which could almost be considered dreadlocks, and his talons scrapped against the floor as his long arms dragged with his lumbering body. A body that seemed to be coming closer and closer, as if sensing Butler was there.

The man had not been fighting for nearly five years, except for the occasional time when he would visit the dojo with Juliet, and let her beat him just for the joyful look on her face. He doubted that he would be able to hold out for long against the troll.

It pushed it's nose into the air, and it's nostrils opened into wide ovals, inhaling the scent of debris, dusty plaster, and... Butler. The beast gave a mighty roar, and whipped it's dreadlocked hair towards the older man.

And he didn't lumber this time, he rushed, talons raised, and Butler thought about the last time he had told his little sister he loved her. Cause that would be the last time that she remembered.

…...

"Artemis, do you think that we can go see Penny today?" Cammie asked, her small frame hunched in hoplessness.

The five of them were sitting at the island in the hotel's small kitchen, and Artemis was making pancakes. All of them had remained quiet, and the only sound in the room was the empty background voices of the TV.

"Maybe. I'd have to ask Holly and Foaly, the short elf lady and the horse man. But I don't think she's well enough. We, I, need to give her time to deal with knowing about the fairy world. It's easier for you to understand, since children usual have a larger imagination." Artemis's voice was gloomy, but concealed under a fake smile glued to his face.

"Oh, okay. Next week?" Cammie asked hopefully, but the light in her eyes was slowly disappearing. A flame that had once burned bright was down to a nub, and Artemis couldn't blame the younger girl. He felt the same way, used up, down to his last sparks, a robot taking control of his body, much like Orion had done, and he was forced to watch from the shadows.

Artemis wrapped one arm around her shoudlers and squeezed, flipping the pancakes, allowing the aroma to drift into the air. Penny's favorite meal. He tried hard not to think about it.

"We'll see." Was all he said, because he didn't have it in him to lie to anyone anymore, like he had been lied to. He was afraid he'd see their disappointed faces in the end, and then he'd break like a mirror.

…...

Lieutenant Grub was sitting in his brother's old office, his feet on the desk, head resting on his interlaced hands. He felt at ease with everything. Until he received the call from the field, requesting his immidiet assistence, and troll hunting supplies.

"D'avirt." Grub swore under his breath, and began to suit up, wondering what more could happen in one week.

…...

Officer Argon II repeatedly pushed the emergency help button on his LEP communicator, hoping that someone would respond. He needed someone with experience, not just out of the acadmey after barely getting by because his father refused to help pay for his funds, after finding out he was going into the LEP. He cut off his son, and left him to rot after finally being informed that his son was not planning to follow in his father's footsteps and become a world famous, arrogant psychologist.

It sucked.

Now he was in the middle of a fight between the Mountain Man as they had come to call him in the office. He was a living legned, only mud man to take down a troll, and the biggest human anyone had seen. It was rumored he could snap a dwarf's neck with a single finger.

Though that didn't seem to apply to the Moutain Man now, since he was being beaten by the troll epicly.

The troll hoisted the man into one shaggy hand, and threw him into a pile of debris from the break in. Alarm's were a distant noise, and not one officer except Argon II showed up, terrified most likely of the troll. In the immortal words of Julius Root, "The next generations of officers keep getting worse and worse. It's like they didn't teach them how to be real men at that academy." Argon had hoped to be like that man one day, a legend. He had died, leaving Trouble Kelp to take his place, and when he had been hurt in an accident, his younger brother Grub.

Argon II would be the next Julius Root, and while he was rooky at the moment, he was determined to be the legend along side his commanding officers, and their story of the mud man, Artemis Fowl.

"Requesting immidet assitence for whoever is out there. And make sure you bring troll hunting supplies. Anyone?" His communicator received a simple response from Grub, and that was all he needed. Someone was coming.

Until then, the troll trouble was his buisness.

He grabbed his Neutron 4000 out of it's holster, and began firing at the troll who had destroyed the bottom level of the hotel. The troll grunted in annoyence and swatted at the blasts, but soon enough became enraged that his meal was being interrupted.

With a howl, the beast turned to Argon II, it's beady eyes like marbles stuffed in a giant toy's face. Covered with wrinkles and barely there.

Argon II gulped and began to fire more rounds, ducking and dodging, hoping that Grub would get there soon.

…...

"Short. Get down to the Haven Plaza hotel immideatly please. We have troll tearing up the city. Code red. I repeat code red." Grub's voice went silent, and Holly stood in shock. She had arrived to work late, her uniform on backwards, pointed out by an annoying centaur.

"D'avirt. Foaly, what do you got for me?" Foaly trotted around the room, and picked up trinkets, large and tiny, skinny tubes, or sets of highly complex wings. This was done while mumbling to himself, and finally reporting back to Holly.

"A new set of wings that beat three times as fast as the hummingbirds, and allowing you to be propelled at a rapid pace. A Neutron 5000, one that hasn't been released yet, and fires stronger and quicker shots. Light beams, compacted suit, and new helmet. It should help a lot, and a new troll replent spray. You put it on a small bullet, like the mud men ones, and fire it out of this." Foaly handed her a black pistol, which she slipped into a holster. "You have to get it in it's mouth, where it will interact with the troll's bloodstream and go to it's brain, temporarily sending it into a trance, ready for take down."

Holly put on the new suit and helmet, letting her vision be adjusted by the lenses and a small picture of Foaly popped up on screen. Great. Now she could see the idoit while he talked into her ear constantly. Fun.

"And Holly." The LEP captain turned before she walked out the door, and faced one of her oldest friends. "Be careful." Was what he finished with, and Holly smiled, before pulling down her visor and racing down the streets of Haven, waving her badge, and wondering how a troll was smart enough to get into Haven.

…...

Artemis heard the rucus from down the street and he dropped the dish he was holding as he looked out the window. A figure loomed over at Butler's hotel, and Artemis had no doubt in his mind that his Butler was fighting it. He had done it before, but judging from the way a tiny officer was attempting to fire shots at the beast, it wasn't working.

"Stay here you four. Don't go outside, and call Police Plaza. The number's in the phone book." Artemis rushed outside, and saw a police officer huddling down in a corner, trying to decide if he should help his fellow officer, or stay out of the way.

Artemis snatched the police officer's gun and helmet, attempting to get the detachable visor down over his head. "Police Plaza. Report." Artemis yelled into the com system, and Foaly's face popped up on screen.

"Fowl? What are you doing? Get away from the fight, you won't stand a chance!" The centuar yelled, and Artemis ignored him.

"I've changed. I can do this. Who else has reported? I found an officer in the streets to terrified to go over."

"No one. Well, only Argon the II, Holly, and Grub. All of the rookies from the academy are wimps. They only handle low jobs, nothing like how they used to be. Few of the brave officers are left." Foaly replied.

"Okay." Artemis run faster, his black jeans and sneakers gritting against the pavement. His clothes were so much different, easier to run in, easier to fight in. How he could have worn that for fifteen years of his life? Artemis had wondered that several times.

"Fowl! What are you doing out in the field?" Holly yelled, and Artemis saw her and Grub rushing in from the other direction.

"No time to explain. I can help." Artemis shouted back, scanning over the situation.

The first floor was a wreck, the structure barely holding the rest of the hotel. Artemis could hear the metal groaning and creaking, and he figured they had about ten minutes before the entire thing collapsed. That would mean some of the LEP would have to work on getting people down from the upper levels.

Butler was a collapsed heap in the corner, his bulky body just barely poking out from under the rubble of the first floor. "Foaly, if the rest of the rookies are wimps, then at least try to gather some up to help get people down from the higher levels of the building. Otherwise this entire thing will go down. We only have ten minutes at the most." Artemis shouted into his com link, only shouting because of the wails, screams, and roars emmiting from the hotel.

"If you're fighting with us Fowl, you take the left flank with Argon, I'll take the right, Short, you take center." Grub commanded, and the group broke off.

Holly began blasting away and the troll's attention was quickly on her. It's beady black eyes filled with rage, angry that it had not eaten it's meal on time like it had hoped. It slowly backed away from Butler's body, and lumbered at the LEP captain, swinging out it's arms in an attempt to catch it's prey.

Holly rolled out of the way and into a kneeling position, from where she fired more blasts from her Neutron 5000. The troll swivled towards her, and then stopped. It was unnerving, seeing a troll stop to contemplate what was happening and what the best tactic would be.

This troll was smarter than the others, and he anaylzed how to capture the four annoyences for his meal. After several seconds of no movement, the troll roared and swung his arms and body in a circle, like the kind children do while staring up at the ceiling and get so dizzy the fall down.

The troll knocked all of his attackers into the metal supports of the hotel, denting them worse than before. Both the supports, and the attackers.

Artemis couldn't move, his legs felt paralyzed to the spot, and all his eyes wanted to do was shut. His arm was bent at an odd angel, and his head throbbed. He attempted to stand up, but fell right back down, the pain overwhelming him like a solid thousand pound weight.

Argon didn't fair much better, his one leg broken, and lungs crushed because his Neutron 4000 had hit him in the neck. Blue sparks of magic raced up and down his arms, healing cuts, bruises, and tending to his lungs and leg.

Holly was knocked unconsious, her head bleeding out, a large bump on her head. Magic too ran down her arms, but it would take a while to heal all of her. She was the closest to the troll, and had easily taken the worst of the blows.

Grub was outcold, but only had a few ribs broken. Blood trickled down his face from a shallow cut on his forehead, and some metal had made bruises on his small body. The magic would kick in, but not for a while. He hadn't done the ritual for quite some time, and he would grow to wish that he had.

Argon managed to heal the fastest, having just refilled his magic at the full moon a week before. He saw a raven haired boy next to him and saw that he wasn't hurt badly, and magic wasn't necessary at the moment, he would have to wait. Argon need all of his magic and strength for the fight with the troll. It roared in content, having defeated his enemies, and going back over to Butler to start his meal once more.

Artemis's visor blurred with an image of Foaly. His face was that of concern and when he spoke, Artemis barely heard he was going so fast. "Artemis, I need you to crawl over to Holly and grab her gun and bullets. It's one of your human guns, and the bullet is covered in an adhesive that will put the troll into a dazed trance. I need you to get it, Holly and Grub's healing process won't be usefully in the amount of time that Argon has to stand against that troll. He has no experience, and he'll die if you don't do this. You said you could handle this, Fowl. Do this, and the LEP will be all over the troll. You can do it. You are strong enough. You're Artemis Fowl. Get the gun and shoot it into the troll's mouth. You only have two minutes." Artemis began to crawl.

The pain seemed unbearable. So awful. It was like a fire ran across his bloodstream as though it were gasoline, and anytime he moved, the fire scorched him, trying to burn him from the inside out. Two minutes to get to Holly, who was on the other side of the building, fifteen feet away. It was impossible.

But he was Artemis Fowl. He was _born_ to do the impossible.

…...

Foaly ran the vital scans through Artemis's helmet. His arm was severly broken, along with his leg, and a good amount of his ribs were fractured as well. Extreme bruising that would remain there even after he received medical attention. His heart was beating unnaturally fast, on the verge of cardiac arrest.

"Come on Artemis. You can do it." Foaly mumbled to himself, and watched the boy pull himself with his good arm and leg over to Holly. Ten more feet, that was all he needed. And he had an estimated one minute to get to the LEP captain before Argon failed against the troll.

Foaly counted off in his head.

…...

Argon II fired shots at the troll, attempting to keep it's attention off of Artemis and the giant man who was a collapsed heap in the corner. Foaly had appeared on screen and told him what the legendary boy genius was doing, and that all he had to do was keep the pissed-off troll occupied for two minutes.

Ducking under one of the trolls abnormally large hands, Argon rushed to blast it with a light beam setting on his gun. The troll staggered back, and slammed it's hairy back into a metal support beam, which groaned once again with weight. If the troll didn't kill him first, Argon was certain that the hotel would kill him because it was going to collapse. LEP sirens wailed outside, and he saw from the corner of his eye his commrades helping elfs, pixies, and sprites down from the levels above. At least they would be safe.

While he was distracted, the troll had snuck up behind Argon II and picked him up in one beffy hand. He brought the LEP officer up to his face, and the breath coming out of his nose was horrid. A mixture of sulfur and decaying...something.

Artemis was mere inches away from Holly, and the pain was unberable. Black dots swirled around his vision, and everything became a large blur. "Come on Fowl! You can do it. One shot." Foaly yelled into the microphone.

Slipping his hand into Holly's hip holster, Artemis pulled out the gun and noticed it was already loaded. Linning up the shot, Artemis gripped on to the last pieces of light and focused on the task at hand. The troll gave a roar, and Artemis pulled the trigger.

…...

Butler woke to pain. Agonizing pain that was slowly fading, as blue sparks raced up and down his arms, healing his injuries.

A group of small pixies were attempting to haul him onto a gurney. His weight was too much for them and the called more forces over. But Butler had already began squirming and rolled so that he was in kneeling position. A pixie must have healed him, because all of his injuries were gone. He felt better.

And now he was going to finish what he had started with the troll.

…...

Seeing his old charge attempting to fire a shot into the troll, and the troll attempting to eat a little man in a LEP suit, Butler ran to the scene, allowing the LEP men's shouts to turn into background music. The high of battle was with him, and the blood pounding in his ears.

All of his senses were on edge, and Butler finally realized what he had been missing for so long. Not just Artemis and the boy's, but the secret excitement that came with fighting. The glory of completing something for the People, helping someone.

"Artemis, give me the gun." Butler called as he raced toward his ex-charge.

"B-Butler? You need- need- to- to- get ou..." Artemis lurched forward and Butler caught him just in time. Setting his friend down, Butler uncurled his fingers from where they were latched around the gun in a death grip. Trying to anchor himself most likely so that he wouldn't pass out before the shot was taken.

Picking the microphone and com system out of the helmet, Butler placed it in his ear. "Foaly? What do I need to do?" Foaly ranted a reply.

"Easy enough. But what to use for a distraction..." Butler pondered, and then felt the helmet clank against his side. Perfect.

…...

The troll was happy to finally have it's meal. And this little one was only the appitizer. The rest was laid out in front of him, and they smelled amazing.

With his back turned, the huge beast was not able to see that one of his dishes had crawled away, and that his first meal was back, until he felt something hard and heavy hit him in the back of the head.

Butler grinned, and watched as the beast roared. Only a few split seconds when it's mouth was open, showing visious fangs and rotten yellow teeth. But that was all the former bodyguard needed. Linning up the shot as his friend had done only thirty seconds before, Butler tightened his finger on the trigger.

The troll was shocked, as the bullet hit the back of his throat, and slowly sank into his bloodstream, crawling up his nerves to his brain, delying his reactions. The next roar was a weak one, and the troll staggered. It almost hit one of the support posts, before veering right, and crashed to the ground. Dust billowed and the ground seemed to shake underneath everyone's feet.

LEP officers rushed over the the scene, grabbing the motionless bodies of Holly and Grub, pulling them out of the wreckage. Butler hauled Artemis over his shoulder, before picking up the small gnome that the troll had been originally holding. He was lightweight, and soon they were beyond the debris.

Butler put Artemis and Argon II on seperate gurneys, allowing the medics to do their work. He had known from experience that the fairy people needed room to heal a person, and that they refused to be disturbed. And they would bow to the will of even a mud man as big as Butler. So he walked over to Holly, who was holding her head, blue sparks whisking over every inch of her body like flames.

"Hello, Captain." Holly smiled and gave Butler a hug. He wrapped his arms around her, but made sure not to crush his elfin friend.

"Hey Butler. Quite a scene you caused there." Holly replied. Butler shook his abnormally large head.

"That was the troll's fault, I would like to point out. Where will it be going anyway?" Butler inquired, and Holly hopped off the gurney as the last of the blue sparks disappeared.

"Most likely they'll have some officers haul it back to one of the troll sites, so that it can wander with it's brethren far away from the People." Holly answered as the two began to walk towards Grub, who was shooing away medics who were only trying to help.

"By the Gods, I am going to yell at those rookies for a good long time about not helping their commrades. I should have all of them suspended and their paychecks docked. They haven't been training them as good as they used to at the Academy." Grub grumbled. Holly and Butler laughed.

Then they heard gunfire, screams, and the sound of Opal Koboi's high-pitched giggles ringing throughout Haven as if she was a tyrant ready to claim her throne.

** So? How did you like it?**

** As I said before, this story is going to be about 20 chapters, so the next few will be about Opal Vs. Artemis and the gang. Then the last will be a recovery, and then an epilogue, maybe some bonus chapters about what happened during the interrogation in the first chapters. Anyone remember that?**

** Maybe one would be about Juliet and her kid. I'm not sure.**

** Now, I just realized that I hate it when people put OC's in the story, and I put an OC in my story. Well, I only included her in the first few chapters to kind of introduce the situation. And Cammie and Lina, but you don't see too much of them. They were purely created to prove how much Artemis has changed.**

** But, I do hope you know that I want to write some other fanfics, but I refuse to stop this one. And I will finish it before it's one year old. **

** I loved the constructive critisim. And yes, I know, that I'm a sucky proof-reader, but I've gotten better. I am just so eager to get chapters up that I skip over revision. I'm working on it.**

** Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Keep sending in reviews, and constructive critisim. I tried going back and revising chapters before reposting them, but then my computer crashed and I lost all of those. Still trying to get them back so I can post better chapters.**

** I am so happy that I got like fifteen reviews! That made my day. I am overjoyed that I write for such awesome readers! I appreciate reviews, but I'm not going to be a hypocrite and say that you have too. Sometimes, we just don't want to, or can't. Do with it what you will! :)**

** Random Fact: All porcupines float in water. **

**Read**

**Review**

**Float a porcupine sometime over the weekend! :)**

**Enjoy the story! :)**


	15. Chapter 15: Empress Opal and The Plan

**Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Artemis Fowl, all of those belong to Eoin Colfer.**

** Hey! I'm back! Thanks for the great reviews! Even though there where only three, I'm cool with it. I hadn't updated this story for a long time, so I'm really sorry about that. But here's chapter 15!**

** Enjoy!**

**Outskirts of Haven**

Opal Koboi tapped her fingers impatiently on the arm rest of her Hover boy. She had dragged her armies to the outskirts of the retched Haven, waiting for just the right moment to strike. A time when they all were distracted by the troll, that way she could take on only a small portion of the LEP, while the other half were controling the troll.

Honestly, if anyone asked, the troll escaping would have been her idea. Not a mistake. After all, when the troll had wandered off the find Butler, it had given her an opportunity. An opportunity to bring all of her power and destroy Haven.

Reinforcments wouldn't have enough time to come, and even if they did, Opal would meet them with an even stronger army. Her army of mutants, perfectly in her control, loyal to their queen. She began to ponder the names that would declare her new title. Queen? Too over used.

Oh Glorious one? Too long

Empress?

Empress.

Opal smiled to herself. _Empress Opal_, she thought. _I will have that be Artemis Fowls' last words. Him begging for mercy, and calling me Empress Opal. I love it._

Empress Opal.

_Long may I rein._

…_..._

Karma was pacing the floor of her newly assigned room. It was inside of Police Plaza, a place where she could be tested. Experimented on. Just like she was before.

Spearmint sat on the bed, gingerly reading a book. She was getting restless from the pack of Skittles beside her. Dem was lying on a seperate bed, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

Rynn and Lil had to be put in a different room than Karma, because she had gotten in a fight with Rynn, and Lil refused to leave her friend. Currently, Foaly was telling them all about the troll incident at the hotel. Karma wished she could have been there to help, prove her worth. She hated being confined.

It reminded her of the cage that she used to live in, next to Spearmint and Dem. They hadn't been let out of them, only for testing. The cages were like dog crates, stacked on top of one another, allowing minimal space to move.

Dem was letting this go too easily, letting the LEP handle Opal. Opal was the one who had imprisoned them. Opal had turned them into what they were. She had made their lives a living hell, then tossed them away like they were nothing.

Fowl Manor was the cursed place. The place that the other experiments had feared, and did their best to stay away from. Opal made the mansion a solitude island, dropping off failed experiments, leaving them to die. Many of them had, their bodies though quickly sunk into the ground, decaying. The smell still lingered, making Karma wonder if it would ever leave her.

As hard as she tried, she couldn't get rid of the memory of her time at Fowl Manor. Most of it had been a delirium haze, but that hadn't made Karma forget her hatred for Opal. And now, when Opal was so close, she couldn't extract her revenge.

Foaly's face clipped off the screen suddenly, making Dem pop from the bed and into a fighting stance. Karma did the same, and then the lights in the security cameras went dark. The door began to open with a hiss.

"Who's there?" Dem called into the dark hallway.

"Just little old me." Rynn replied, shinning a flashlight into the room. "And I'm here to offer you a chance for revenge." Karma felt her lips turn into a smirk.

…...

Foaly attempted to get the security cameras back online, but Rynn had done a good job of hacking into the system. He put his head in his hands before going back to the computer. The decoding system had almost gotten the virius code solved, and in less than a minute the security cameras would be in Foaly's control. Rynn hadn't cared about how secure the virius was, just that it could keep Foaly occupied for a couple of minutes.

The computer pinged and Foaly saw an 'Acess Granted' sign pop up on the screen. All of Police Plaza was under Foaly's view. As he stared at sector 1, he really wished it wasn't

Because there he saw Karma and Rynn running out the door, smirking like wolves ready to pounce on their prey.

…...

"Artemis. Artemis, wake up!" Holly's voice was suddenly all Artemis could hear, and he groaned. He slapped the air as if there was an alarm clock that he wanted to snooze.

"Snooze! I just want to sleep!" Artemis yelled into the air, and Holly giggled. The magic had left the genius disoriented and tired.

"Artemis, there's someone here to see you." Butler called into the ambulence. Metal groaned as more weight was added to the veichle.

"Hello, Artemis." Minerva smiled as the man opened his eyes.

"Minerva? What are you doing here? You left so suddenly. Beau told us that you had betrayed him and Gaspard to Opal." Minerva heaved a sigh at the relatively true statement.

"I did, for their protection. Opal would've had them killed if I didn't turn them over, and I figured that they were at least better off alive than being tortured in some sort of disgusting way until they died. I've regret it for a very long time, and Opal refused to let me contact them. She made me her spy, threatening to hurt them more if I disobyed. So I did what she told me, including helping the LEP find you. I'm sorry. I screwed up, big time. But I do know something that you don't about Opal. A way to defeat her." Minerva stated, and Artemis attempted to sit up, but felt a cramp in his sore ribs. The magic was still whisking around inside his body, healing the damaged bones and organs.

"What is it Minerva? How do we take Opal down?" Artemis whispered, coughing up a small amount of blood into his hand. Holly grabbed a glass of water and brought it to his lips. He sipped it thankfully, then looked towards Minerva expectantly.

"The trigger. Opal has this trigger that is supposed to release a gas the only she can control. It brings instant pain worse than death. It will force everyone in Haven to bow down to her. I know where the supply is, and how to destroy it, but she's kept it hidden well, and it's going to take a while to get to it, about a day. There are so many traps and so much thinking involved, it took me forever to get down there without being killed.

"If we can subdue the gas, then we'll defeat Opal. She's useless without it. That's how she controlled the mutants, how she is controling them. If we leave now, we might have a chance of stopping her. But there's a slight problem." Minerva finished nervously, wringing her hands together.

"What would that be?" Artemis inquired, brushing Holly away to stare at Minerva.

"Opal's forces are outside of Haven right now. She's going to send the army in soon." Glancing at her watch, Minerva gasped. "She should have sent them in while the troll was attacking a half hour ago." The radio in the ambulence jerked to life.

"Hello Artemis Fowl. This is your new supreme ruler, Empress Opal. And I have taken control of Haven city. Now you will do exactly as I say and no one will get hurt... too badly at least." Artemis eyes widened, and he could hear the satisfactory smirk in Opal's voice.

…...

"How far?" Karma asked, and Rynn merely grunted. They had stolen a LEP veichle to get to Opal faster, and Rynn was attempting to focus on the road. Karma had offered to drive, but Rynn didn't think that was the best idea. Karma had constantly been asking when they were going to be close to Opal, but Rynn focused her sole attention on the road in front of her.

"Are we close?" Karma inquired again, and Rynn took a deep breath. She couldn't hit the girl. Not when they were the only two that had the guts to fight Opal and her mutant army.

"Soon. Until then, dig around in the compartments. Try to find some weapons for us to use. Otherwise we're going to be stuck with just our fists." Karma nodded and began rummaging throughout the small LEP veichle, finding only two Neutron 3000's, and a couple of handcuffs, communicators, and an assortment of tools.

"Rynn. Get down. Stop the car. I see some scouts." Karma hissed, and Rynn did as she was told. It was an odd sight to anyone that knew them. Two girls who were both tough as stone, but both incredibly adaptable to the situation. Leaders.

No one would have ever thought they would actually work together to fight the greater cause, no matter what it was.

"What did they look like?" Rynn whispered, and Karma paused a moment.

"Two boys, our age, maybe a little older. One had knives for fingers, and the other had a saw blade arm. Reminds me of Jason from Friday the 13th." Karma replied, pressing herself up against the car door.

"What?" Rynn asked, wondering who Jason was.

"Nevermind. We need to get out of here. They're going to find it supicious if they see a car in the middle of the road. If we can sneak past them, we can eventually find Opal and hopefully make a dent in the army." Karma commanded, and Rynn grabbed her arm.

"No. We need to get Opal alone, otherwise we're dead. The army has tripled since you were last there. We wouldn't stand a chance against them. Haven won't either if the army does manage to get to it. Considering how the police reacted to the troll, everyone is doomed if we don't stop it." Rynn reasoned, and Karma sighed, knowing the other girl was correct.

"I still want to hit something." She muttered.

Rynn winked. "Trust me, there is going to be plenty of time for that in the future." Then, they pused open the door and were met with the knife boy's face in theirs.

…...

Myles was surprised to see a young woman outside the hotel door. He was expecting Artemis to be back, but from what he had watched on the news, his older brother was in recovery from the troll attack.

"Who are you?" Myles questioned the girl at the door curiosly. He knew that he should be catious, but he couldn't help himself.

"I'm Minerva Paradizo. And you must be Myles. I need your help." Minerva replied, and Myles stepped aside to let the woman into the room.

"Where's Beckett?" She asked, and Myles called for his brother.

Beckett bounded in, his blond curls bouncing on his forehead. He haistily went to move them aside, but Minerva did it first. Staring at her, Beckett moved next ot his brother.

Minerva blushed furiously, a sad pang in her eyes. "Sorry. I always used to do that to Bo Bo." She stated.

"Why are you here Ms. Paradizo?" Myles asked, and Minerva sighed, motioning for the boys to take a seat.

"Opal Koboi is going to invade the city, and use a painful gas to make everyone her slaves. I need your help to get to it before she spreads it all over Haven. Only I know where it is hidden, but I need your help to sterilize it. I asked Artemis, but he is going to be distracting Opal. She doesn't know I left, and so this makes it the perfect plan. But I still need a Fowl, because only one of them could figure it out. I've been racking my brain to try and figure out the code, but it's no use. Are you willing to help?" She nervously wrung her hands together.

This was a large burden to put on two nine year old's shoudlers. But according to Artemis, they were ready for it. _It gets younger and younger each generation of Fowl's. _Minerva thought to herself, looking expectantly at the boys before her.

They confered, which consisted of them huddling together, whispering so low she could hear. Then, when they surfaced, Beckett was the one to answer. "We'll help."

…...

Foaly sat back in his chair, and put his head in his hands. He couldn't believe that the two girls had gotten away. And he knew exactly what they were going to do.

They were going to murder Opal.

And he knew that Grub was going to kill _him..._

…...

Artemis and Holly were being driven in a rustic LEP veichle towards Opal's camp. The veichle was being driven by a girl, no older than eight, her nails titanium claws that ripped through anything. She had given a good demonstration of that when she had unhinged the door to the LEP veichle. Most likely for theatrics, Artemis thought to himself. Opal wanted them to know the power she held.

_I know the power you have Opal. And I know how to use it against you. _Artemis noticed that he was thinking more like his past self everyday. Whether it was talking to Holly, Butler, or figuring out how to throw Opal back into a prision cell.

"Why do you fight for Opal?" Artemis broke the silence. The girl didn't turn around to face him. That was Opal's mistake. She had sent a child who could easily be manipulated in exchange for a stable life, with care and comfort. And she had made it so that they wouldn't actually talk unless directed, only listening.

"She's going to kill you, you do know that right?" Again, the girl said nothing. "Maybe she'll keep a select few around to keep order, but with that gas, she'll have no need to keep anyone around any longer. You're only here to take down the LEP, and to serve her. To ensure her winning."

"I know you're listening. Take a look at yourself. Eight years old? And a servant. Taken away from your family at a young age, trained to harm. But you don't have to do that." Artemis pleaded. Holly was silent, slightly stunned that Artemis was taking such a risky course of action.

"I was trained to believe that money and manipulation was the way to win. But in the end, I had nothing but the satisfactory that I won. It didn't last for long. Sure, I had gold, and power, and countless artifacts. But the power came from fear of the name. The gold and money came from playing on the wrong side of the law. The artifacts came from minipulation and greed. Soon, after this is all over, you'll be looking at it that way to. I know it."

The girl sat like a stone, only her hands moving occasionally to make a turn on the road. But Artemis saw a small flicker in her eyes. He had broken the surface. She understood his facts. Though now it was up to her to tell the others, convince them.

"We're here." The girl hissed, breaking harshly. They were at a large, open field filled with people, who parted as the group stepped out of the car. Opal's smile could be seen from where Artemis was standing.

_Not for long, Opal. _Artemis thought to himself.

Then, to the little girl, he whispered, "I hope you heed my advice. My warning."

All she did was nod before scurring back into the crowd.

** So I know this chapter is kind of short, but I really wanted to get it up. I hope you all like it! There is a little more drama, but I added the OC's in. I'll be getting rid of some of that excess drama in the next few chapters.**

** Either way, I found out my school has a snow day today, which is weird, because we JUST got snow two days ago. As a result of that, I have the time to update this chapter incredibly early in the morning. : )**

** Hope you liked the chapter, please leave a review if you liked it, or would like to see more of something. Also, mistakes. I love hearing about anything that can make me a better author! : )**

**Random Fact:**

**The longer your finger is, the faster the nail will grow. Fingernails grow four times faster than toenails. **

**Now you guys go two random facts! Double bounus!**

**Please enjoy the story and review!**

**Read**

**Review**

**Enjoy (Watching your fingernails grow faster than your toenails. : ) **


	16. Chapter 16: Seven Minutes

**Disclaimer: I'll be sure to keep you updated on when I own Artemis Fowl and Eoin Colfer doesn't.**

** I'm sorry for the long wait. I know everyone says this, but I've had a lot going on in my life lately. With basketball Monday and Wednesday, and volleyball Tuesday, I'm gone for most of the night. And then volleyball games are on Friday nights, and basketball games on Saturdays or Sundays. So once again, I am sorry. I just haven't had the INTERNAL motivation to update. The reviews are great, and this is mainly a me thing.**

** So, I'll try updating every 2 weeks or so, but no promises. I am determined to finish this story before it becomes a year old. (March 23rd)**

** But enough about me...**

** Onward with the story! (And Rynn Wolfe, I know it has been a long time. You AREN'T being a pest, trust me.)**

Artemis and Holly were pushed into the crowd as if they were animals. No one seemed to want to touch them, and made a clear path to Opal, before they blocked the way back out. Niether of them had seen the little girl that had drove them to the outskirts of Haven. They were in an older part of the city, where the lights above zapped, and occasionally one turned off every so often.

"I can't believe that Opal Koboi would actually settle for the older parts of the city. Humans built ontop of this part of the city, and all of their pollutations forced us to move away from this part. All of that disgusting oil dripped down constantly. My parents lived here for a short while too." Holly whispered to Artemis. Artemis nodded. This was nothing he hadn't seen in Foaly's files.

"I know. It makes no sense. She really must be hell-bent on this plan if she was willing to stay out here." Artemis stated, his eyebrows knit together. He was counting on Minerva and his brothers to turn of the gas, so that Opal couldn't control the kids, or start a war against Haven again.

"Ah, Artemis Fowl. I would say it's a pleasure, but really, it's not. But the part where I kill you will be quite...entertaining." Artemis blanked his face, and counted silently in his head. This was all going down in five minutes. That was all the time he had before Opal was sure to kill him and Holly. Minerva said that he would know when the gas was disabled. He hadn't seen any sign yet, so he could only hope for the best.

"Opal. What do you want with us?" Holly shouted to the pixie, who sat high on her throne that was made out of what looked like pure gold. She wore long robes like a queen, and a crown sat on a large pillow next to the throne.

"Well, for one, I wanted to have you watch me be coronated, just to let you know that there is no hope of defeating me. And second, to kill you of course. Then all of Haven will know that my army has defeated some of it's 'brave heroes'. That way, they will give up the city willingly, and I won't have to waste my precious toys." Opal replied, hopping off her throne and onto a large footstool in front of Holly and Artemis.

"Haven won't do that Opal. We both know that. You just want us to suffer." Artemis stalled, hoping to get a rise out of the pixie. But she would have none of it, and simply waved off the comment with a flick of her hand.

"Don't question my motives on killing you, Fowl. I still have the option of releasing my secret weapon and making you watch as your precious city bows to my will." Artemis knew that this was a possiblity, but Holly didn't. She drew in a sharp breath and a murderous look filled her hazel eyes with fire.

Seeing her enemy's reaction, Opal grinned. "In fact, I think that I shall do just that. That way, you will have to watch all of those you care about suffer. And they won't even put up a fight!" Opal would never admit that she should have stuck with this plan, because her pride would get in the way. Instead, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a large cylinder and flicked the top open to reveal a large, red button.

Artemis desperatly hoped that Minerva and his brothers would go a little faster as he began to stall for time.

…...

Karma and Rynn were hauled to the old part of Haven by the knife boy. His hands dug into their skin, and didn't release. They both held in screams of pain, making only grunts.

Rynn knew that they were taking them to Opal, most likely to be killed in some harsh way. But instead, before they got to the edge of the city, the knife boy dropped them. A little girl with her blond hair in messy pigtails waited for him. He stalked over to her angrily, and they got into a heated conversation. Niether Rynn nor Karma could hear the words being spoken, but with the angry gestures and body laungauge, they could figure out a good amount of it.

The boy went to reach into his pocket, but the little girl grabbed his arm, stopping him. He wrenched his arm out of her grasp and went to smack her. Rynn raced over with Karma right behind her, towards the boy's rising hand. Rynn grabbed it, and twisted it behind his back.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Karma screamed in the boy's face. The little girl came up beside Karma and glared at the older boy, who shouted in pain.

"Hang on." The little girl whispered. She went over to knife boy and pushed against the skin where his neck met his skull. He instantly slumped forward, dragging Rynn down to. She released him before she too fell to the ground.

"What was that?" Rynn panted, hands on her knees. Holding the incredibly strong knife boy had sapped her energy.

"That was Kevin. He was my babysitter before all this happened. I'm Tina by the way. And I came here to try to convince Kevin that what we're doing is wrong." Rynn frowned. It was unnatural that one of the mutants would have such a change of heart, and in such drastic times of need. Opal had set up excersises that test their reaction under pressure, stress, and during war. Several of the kids cracked instantly.

"Why the sudden switch of sides?" Rynn inquirred. She didn't trust this girl, and by the look in Karma's eyes, her friend didn't either. It wasn't a surprise.

Tina looked over her shoulder, studying the girls before her like they were a science experiment. And then she said one word that placed all the puzzel pieces into place. It made total sense, what she said. And neither Karma nor Rynn argued with her about it.

"Artemis Fowl."

…...

Minerva led the boys through the twisted streets of old Haven, and soon they came to a small alley that over looked the street.

A small band of mutants were driving a truck down the streets, and they looked nervous, constantly glancing back at the bed of the truck. A large blue tarp covered several barrels of toxin, and Myles calculated that they were going to be driving the gas to Opal.

"They'll need a modified generator if they're going to spread that out around the city. Shouldn't we be shutting that down instead?" Myles asked from behind Minerva. Minerva turned back to look at him.

"Yeah, but the thing is, is that if we only turn off the generator, Opal has another plan. She'd put the gas in tubes and then roll them into the city. One press of a button and all of those would release the gas into Haven. It's almost more efficent than the way she's doing it now. We need to destroy the gas right here, right now. The only problem is, is that those containers are fire proof, protected by a solid titanium and steel cover that I can't crack the code to. And then, I need to figure out a way to safely destroy the toxins." Minerva twirled one of her cork-screw curls around her finger and tugged, biting her lip.

Beckett thought for a moment. "How close is the nearest magma tube?" Minerva radioed the question to Foaly.

"Foaly says about a mile." Minerva smiled, realizing the younger Fowl's plan.

"Good. I've always wanted to drive a car. Sixteen really is just to long a wait."

"You have _got_ to give me a chance too, Beckett. You can't get to have all the fun with this!" Myles cheered. They had the perfect plan.

But they would have a hard time getting it to work.

…...

"Miss Koboi, I brought them." Tina trilled. Kevin nuged her arm, and she placed a look of worry over her face. No one called Empress Opal Miss Koboi anymore. No one that survived anyway. Though today, it seemed that Opal was in a better mood than usual. That meant that she didn't just kill off mutants left and right.

"It's _Empress Opal_ from now on. Make that mistake again and you might not leave with your head." Opal growled. Two more mutants came to Tina and Kevin's side, taking hold of Karma and Rynn.

"Ah, if it isn't two of my rougue experiments. Pleasure to have you back where you belong. In my army." Opal knitted her fingers together.

"I never went rogue. You exiled me to Fowl Manor." Karma replied. One of her mutant captors smacked her upside the head.

"No. You exiled yourself to Fowl Manor, because you refused to leave Kitsune. You would have still been useful for me. But now, I just want you to die. You're getting in my way. So you two are going to be killed, along with Artemis Fowl and Holly Short. But first I'll make you watch your friends die." Opal pulled a laptop into her lap and began to type.

Soon, all four of the captives were staring at several TV screens that mutants had pulled out in front of them. It showed different settings of Haven.

"Now all we need is the gas. Where are they?" Opal murmmured the last part to herself, before shouting to another mutant. "Locate that car! Radio them and find out whats taking so long!" The mutant scurried off. More so limped, because she had large knives for toes, making it nearly impossible to walk. Pain contorted her face, and Rynn felt sympathy for the girl. She knew that her life had become a living hell when she was with Opal. It was only worse for the mutants now.

Karma knew the exact feeling also. When she had been banished to Fowl Manor, she couldn't be happier. It was away from Opal, and at first she hated it. But then she realized the blessing in disguise.

"WHAT? WHY ARE THEY HEADED TOWARDS THE MAGMA TUBES?" Opal yelled at the mutant who had delievered the news.

"I-I-I don't know, Empress Opal." The mutant stuttered. The girl shuffled her feet, and then stopped quickly because of the sound the knives made on the cement platform where Opal's throne sat.

"WELL YOU BETTER FIGURE IT OUT! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Opal screamed and quickly turned to the rest of the mutants as the one scurried off.

"Now. The rest of you will wait here while I figure this out. However, you, you, you, you, you, and you come with me. You're going to be guarding these four with me while I figure this out. Let's go! NOW!" Opal pointed at the mutants before storming off to one of the cars.

The mutants shoved Artemis, Holly, Karma, and Rynn to follow Opal. They were shoved burtally into a car and soon the engine reved. Artemis only hoped this was all part of Minerva's plan, because he sure as heck hadn't known about it.

It was confusing to know what was going to happen next, since Artemis hadn't seen or heard anything about the fairy people for nearly seven years. This was one of the toughest plans he had ever made since he was a teenager. And he knew that it was only going to get harder.

…...

Beckett had won an intense game of rock-paper-scissors, beating his twin brother. It hadn't taken much. Myles always thought that Beckett would do scissors, and used rock. But Beckett quickly turned the tables with paper.

Minerva had groaned at the brother's grudge match, and insisted they hurry up the process and just let her drive them to the magma shoots. But she knew that they wouldn't let her drive the truck if it would save their lives. They had been dreaming of it for a long time, and occasionally Artemis had taken them out and let them steer while sitting in his lap.

And Minerva was needed to direct them, while also work on the barrels with Myles in the back. They were close to coming up with the code to crack the barrels open, so that the titanium and steel covering would disperse.

Beckett had thought that driving would be easy. It had been relatively easy with Artemis pressing the peddles. But now the task became increasinly difficult. Even with his chest practically touching the steering wheel, Beckett had to stretch his legs to reach the peddles.

"How's it going up there?" Minerva shouted over the roar of the wind. There wasn't really wind underground, but the air rushed by them. Beckett had an abnormal need for speed. It was a known fact to Artemis, Cammie, Lina, Myles, and Penny. They all had seen him go top speed on his bike down a hill, and crash. But he had gotten up again and grinned.

Then there was the time he was at the county fair, and he and Artemis had gotten stuck upside down after the biggest drop. Once the employes had gotten them down, Beckett and Artemis spent the rest of the afternoon throwing up the salty fries and greasy burgers they had eaten at the fair. Beckett made it a ritual to ride that rollercoaster everytime they went to the fair, right after lunch.

"GREAT!" Beckett shouted back. "How are you guys holding up. Any progress?" They hit a bump in the street, as the road flattened out to pure dirt.

"Yeah! We've almost got the casing off of all of them. How close are we to the magma tunnels? Do we even know when the next one is going to hit?" Myles shouted to Minerva, even though she was sitting right next to him.

She set down one of the casings she had managed to get off the barrels of gas and radioed the question in to Foaly. There was a crackle of static, and the centuars muffled reply. Minerva said something back, and then there was more mummbling.

"Ones going to be hitting in about ten minutes. We don't have a lot of time. By the time we get there, we'll only have about seven minutes, and that's if we have no disruptions. So, as much as I hate to say this, we're going to have to speed up, Beckett! Do you think you can do that?" Minerva called to the youngest Fowl.

Beckett flashed an impish grin into the rear view mirror at his brother and friend.

"You got it! Here we go!" He screamed, and the car sped up. Minerva knew that Foaly was so going to be having a good laugh at this back in Police Plaza, despite the circumstances. That was just what Foaly did.

" You have to let me have a turn Beckett, you imbicle!" Myles shouted. But as it turned out, that chance would never come for Myles, at least on that day.

Because, only about thirty feet from the magma tunnels, they were cut off.

"Seven minutes and counting." Foaly whispered nervously, his tail flickering behind him.

"Seven minutes and counting." Minerva agreed.

…...

Silence had fallen over the members in the car, obviously awkward. It aggrivated Rynn, and she was getting impatient. The communicator in her ear had been disabled by one of the hench kids, and Opal was tapping her nails in the front seat. She was extremely nonchalant, but Rynn saw right through the mirage. She was nervous and excited, finally her plan would be put into play and she would have her wish. But there was still the slightest possiblity of retalliation from the other side. It made her thinking one sided as her mind tried to deal with the possiblity of not winning.

"They are speeding up, Empress Opal." A mutant spoke monotonously from the drivers seat.

"Well then, I suggest we speed up also!" Opal barked.

Oh yeah. She was stressed.

It was going to lead to her downfall for sure.

…...

Tina watched the car drive away, and quickly turned to Kevin.

"What are we going to do?" She frantically cried. Her body was shaking at just the thought of what the gas felt like. Tiny needles injecting posion that burned along your blood, and then it spread throughout your body. Opal had shown them an examples of what the gas could do, and even allowed them to have a test run themselves. It had not been a fun experience for any of the mutants.

"We're going to try to convince them that what Opal is doing is wrong, and get them to join us in taking her down. You have those facts memorrized, Tina?"

Tina hastily nodded, sending her pigtails in a free-for-all.

"Good. The only question is how to get their attention..." Kevin pondered the thought.

"I don't think we have too. Kev, LOOK!" Tina whispered next to him, terrified. Because all the faces in the crowd were on them. The mutants stood in messy rows, circling the two other mutants, ensuring that there was no escape.

"What's this about taking Opal down?" One of the mutants looked around to make sure that no one was watching.

"We have a plan. But we're going to be needing your help." Kevin said, and the boy nodded. It was one of his friends, Ethan Markson. Before they had been kidnapped by Opal, they had been best friends.

All of the mutants looked skeptical. If Opal heard any of this, she would give them all a gasing. And it would hurt, because she would want to remind them that she was in power, and that resistence was futile.

"You got it man. But you better hope that Opal doesn't hear any of this." Ethan replied, walking up to Kevin. Ethan's fingernails could retract and they were replaced with long needles which injected posion into his victim.

"She wont. Not if any of us don't tell her." Kevin replied.

"Listen, we have some friends," Tina didn't dare mention Artemis Fowl. He was a touchy subject around the mutants, who feared his old home, and the woman that was his enemy.

"They are distracting Opal. Some of them are going to the magma tubes to burn the gas that Opal has been threatening all of us with. We don't belong to her anymore. We just need to go and help them, and also figure out a way to alert the others in the car with Opal not to attack us when we go help them stop her." Tina finished nervously. She was contemplating whether or not to tell them about the fact that Artemis was the one that had come up with this plan.

"Who are your friends?" A mutant called out.

"Artemis Fowl, Holly Short, Rynn, and Karma." Some of the mutants had known the latter of the two personally. So they were surprised to hear their former friend's names. They thought that they had died.

Chaos raged through the mutants, before Ethan quickly whistled with his fingers to get their attention. Everyone quieted down.

"Good. Now that you have all shut up, we have work to do." Ethan shouted.

"We should send some mutants back to Haven, to make sure that the People stay safe." Kevin spoke as if he was in a daze.

"I agree. Okay, who would we ask though?" Ethan pondered. He bit on his nails carefully, not wanting to posion himself. That would suck.

"We don't ask. We command. We are leaders, and leaders have to make decisions. Some people are just going to have to deal with it. The People need to be protected." Tina declared. Kevin and Ethan stared at the ten year old. No one had ever thought that she could say that much.

"I'll go back with them then." Ethan complied once he was out of his stupor. "We don't want them getting shot at, do we? Is there any way for your friends to get that across to them?"

"No. We lost contact with them. The magma flares are getting unusally active. It's blocking all of the conections that I could get from this ear piece. A piece of LEP equipment would definitely do it, but we don't have any." Tina responded.

"Actually, we do. Opal stole a bunch, and I'm pretty sure there are a couple of ear pieces in there somewhere." Ethan pipped up.

"Okay. Then all of you!" Kevin pointed to two large groups of mutants who turned to look at him. "Go with Ethan to help protect Haven and the People. We need to do this, just incase our attack fails. No ifs, ands, or buts. We'll make contact with them so that they'll allow us to come. But the rest is up to all of you. We need you guys to go." The mutants grumbled but complied.

"The rest of you, come with me! Grab a car and head to the magma flares! Those of you who can run quickly, or get there fast enough, don't take a car. Let's go people! We have work to do!" And with that, the mutants dispersed, sweeping across the air like birds, and across the ground. Opal wasn't going to win.

Not this time.

…...

** Sorry this chapter is kind of short. I just wanted to get it updated. **

**I started this chapter in late January, and the reason I haven't been able to update is because my keyboard wouldn't let me type. So I got frustrated. But enough about that.**

** I intend to have a chapter up hopefully within the next week. I'm starting the first page right after I post this. I really want to finish this story before it reaches a year old.**

** But anyway... I hope you all liked it. I didn't have time to check it over, because I know that you guys are impatient to read. And please review. It really motivates me to update.**

** Radom fact: The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog" uses every letter of the alphabet.**

** Random fact 2: There are over 10 million bricks in the Empire State Building.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Expect a new chapter sometime hopefully next week! :)**

**Read.**

**Review.**

**Enjoy! :D**


	17. Chapter 17: The Fowl Countdown

**Disclaimer: I've said this before, but I'll say it again. I don't own Artemis Fowl. All credit goes to Eoin Colfer**

**Hey guys! Well, I'm not going to type a super long authors note because I know that you guys just want to get to reading!**

** Anyway! Just wanted to say that this chapter may not be finished by this week, but I really will try my hardest! Until then, please, PLEASE review! It reminds me that people are actually reading the story!**

** Either way, here is the next chapter, as promised!**

…**...**

When the car stopped, Artemis prayed to whatever god was out there that he/she would help them. Because if this plan didn't work, a lot of innocent people would die.

It was perhaps one of the biggest risks he had taken since leaving Fowl Manor that fateful day so many years ago. But times one hundred. If all didn't go as planned, down to the exact second, they would be doomed. Nothing would be able to save them if it didn't work.

Hopefully Minerva and Myles had gotten the casings to the gas barrels open without managing to kill themselves. That was second on the list of biggest risks he had ever taken in the history of his youth. He loved his brothers, and sincerely hoped that they were okay. They should have been preparing to dump the gas into the abandoned magma tunnel.

Artemis had become very concerend when Opal found out that Minerva, Beckett, and Myles had hijacked the car. That wasn't part of the plan, and he didn't fully trust Minerva. It was one thing to go to the darkside because your concerened for your family's safety, and another to go because your concerend for your family, and you then give up your ruler's secrets very willingly. And suddenly give information on some mysterious gas that will nearly kill anyone it comes into contact with.

And then take his greatest weakness and use it against him.

He cared about his brothers possibly more than anything in the world. He would give his life for them, he loved them that much. He had tried to protect them for so long, from everything. Tried to help Myles through his lonely life as a genius, and helped him make friends. They had a good life, and sometimes he actually wished the Holly, Butler, and Juliet had never found them. They were a past that he desperately tried to runaway from.

But it came back to haunt him.

And it still was.

Minerva had taken his brothers miles away from him, let Beckett drive a car, and so many risks. Too many, to the likes of Artemis Fowl. Letting them go with her had been a bad idea.

But he knew that he couldn't take it back now. No matter how much he wished that he could, he couldn't take it back.

Because they were directly on their way towards the magma tunnels.

Only a mile and they would catch up with Myles, Beckett, and Minerva at the tunnels.

And he knew that all hell would brake loose.

…...

Beckett swerved to a stop, almost throwing Minerva and Myles out of the bed of the truck. Myles rubbed his head and grumbled to himself. Minerva sat in a state of shock, gripping the side of the truck as if it were her life tether. Which, when Beckett was driving at least, it was.

Beckett was estatic. "That was AWESOME! Can we do that again? We SO should do that again! It was AWESOME!" He sounded like a little child hyped up on too much caffine. And by the looks of it, his wild hair, bloodshot eyes from little amounts of sleep, he was.

"No. Not again." Minerva groaned, holding a hand to her head. Her face was a light shade of green.

"Yeah, come on. Let's just get this over with. I think their tailing us." Myles said nervously, hopping out of the truck and onto the paved road. Green weeds grew through the cracks in the ground, and the city was lost far behind them.

"How do you know?" Minerva asked. She looked generally curious.

"I just have a feeling. Plus, I saw a tracker on the console. It was most likely from the other mutants. Opal wouldn't want to loose her most valuable weapon." Myles concluded.

"They just keep getting more and more brilliant every generation." Minerva grumbled.

"No time for that. How many more minutes do we have to wait until the next magma flare?" Beckett questioned.

"About two minutes. Thanks to your driving, we made it here in about half the time that I thought it would. Those are Foaly's exact words." A small static shock burst from Minerva's ear piece. "No! I will not tell him that! I don't care if your sick, just from watching him drive like that. Just be quiet! See if anyones following us." Another burst of static. Minerva felt her face go red from anger.

And then it drained of all color.

She turned to Myles.

"You were right." She breathed.

…...

Spearmint and Dem were holding Foaly down, keeping him from bashing his head against his desk. He tried to free himself, but the child-mutants were stronger than him, due to a little enhancing from Opal.

"Foaly, stop it! They'll be fine." Dem sounded like he was trying to convince himself just as much as he was the centaur.

"Yeah, this is Artemis Fowl we're talking about!"Spearmint strained to say. The centaur was far stronger than she ever would have thought.

"Let go!" Foaly shouted.

"No. Not until you promise to tell us that you aren't going to do something stupid!" Dem shouted. Foaly stopped struggling. He was out of breath. Those kids truly were strong!

"Fine. I promise not to do anything stupid. Yet." The centaur mumbled the finally part under his breath. Dem glared at him before releasing his grip, as Spearmint did the same.

"Thank you." Foaly said angrily, hurridly going back to his computer. Sitting in his modified chair was a sight to see, especially for mutants who had seen many things, but never a centaur sitting in such a comfortable chair.

"Want me to make you one? I only use the best materials, and there are vibrators and heating pads built in that are controlled by this remote," Foaly held up a large, intricate wirless remote. "I can build you one. The only reason I was allowed to build one was because my doctor said that my hind legs were being hurt by those other chairs." Foaly frumped.

"No time for that!" Spearmint shouted, turning Foaly's seat back around so that it faced the computer screen once again.

"Could you build me one?" Dem whispered and Foaly nodded.

"I'd like one too, but first things first. Pull up some Haven security cameras." Foaly did as he was told, and they all stared at the computer screen.

Because there, on the screen was living proof of the mutants. And they were marching straight to Haven, for reasons unknown. But Foaly had a couple of guesses.

"Oh my god." Spearmint breathed.

Foaly swore under his breath, and hastily began typing into the computers, and yelling into the intercoms.

"You can so hold off on making me that chair." Redemption said.

Foaly ignored him. Instead, he chose to crack his knuckles, roll his head from one side to another, and then quickly poise his fingers over the keyboard.

And then he said something that wasn't surprising, since this was _the _Foaly they were talking too.

"Get. Me. A. Carrot."

Spearmint and Redemption did as they were told.

…...

The magma tunnel was heating up. Beckett could feel it, he started sweating and his mouth suddenly went dry. They would have to wait for just the right moment before they could drop the barrels of gas into the tunnels. Otherwise they wouldn't be burned properly. According to Minerva, they had to wait until the magma wave came before they could throw the barrels in. The three only had one chance. If they messed up, things would get a lot more complicated.

"Line them up here. Quickly!" Minerva pointed to the edge of the magma tunnel, beginning to roll one of the several barrels to where she had pointed just moments before.

All of them kept glancing over their shoulders at the approching car filled with unwanted guests. Beckett only guessed that it was mainly Opal or some of her goonies coming to stop them. But he knew that they would be too late. As long as nothing completely drastic happened, they would be fine.

"This is the last one!" Myles shouted, managing to haul the last of the barrels to the end of one of the neat rows they had made. A rustic titanium egg sat still on one of the abandoned railways, dividing lanes. Three rows of barrels were set up on each side. One push at the end of each row would send all of the barrels into the magma tunnel, where they would be incinerated instantly. Myles and Beckett stood on guard at each of the lanes, ready to push the barrels when they were given the signal.

Minerva stood in front of the titanium pod and put a determined look on her face. She hadn't stood up to Opal in a long time, and now was her chance to get revenge. She wanted to see Opal's face as she watched everything she had worked so hard for, loved so much, taken away from her. She wanted her enemy to suffer.

The car came to a grumbling stop.

"Stall for only two minutes, two minutes Minerva. You can do it. Tell the boys. Two minutes."

1:59

1:58

1:57

1:56

"Two minutes boys. Be ready. One last sip of water. One last sip of water. It's about to get really, really hot in here." Beckett took a quick swig from the bottle clipped onto his belt at his waist, before tossing it over the titanium pod and to Myles.

1:50

1:49

1:48

1:47

1:46

1:45

1:44

1:43

1:42

1:41

1:40

Myles took a long sip from the water bottle, watching the silent car. He could see Opal in the front seat, two mutants squeezed in in along with her, and a handful of unidentified people in the back. Myles partially recognized Holly, Karma, and Rynn.

But then he saw Artemis.

He wanted to run to his older brother.

Scream at him, like he had before.

Cry with him.

Punch him. Hug him.

He wanted Artemis to tell him that everything was going to be okay. Like a big brother should.

Myles understood why Artemis had taken up a new life. If he was in his position, he would have too. Just to get away from what used to be a perfect world, but soon began crumbling down around him.

Beckett felt the same way. Myles knew that. And considering what he had heard from Juliet and Butler, he and Beckett used to be mortal enemies. Myles, Artemis, and Artemis Senior were perhaps some of the cruelest, sometimes heartless, deceving, and intelligent of the Fowl family. Angeline and Beckett were different.

They were love, and caring, and family. Artmeis had raised Myles and his brother the way his mother had, trying to show them what he never had until it was too late. And with that, Myles and Beckett had truly formed a bond.

When Beckett decided that jumping out of a tree to prove that he could fly and then broken his arm and leg, Myles had felt it. It was his shout of pain that alerted Penny to the situation at hand, where she rushed over to where Artemis was hunched over next to a crying Beckett.

Beckett had appeared in so many pictures with him, some said they were joined at the hip. But they had such different personalities, they fit. When Myles got a bad grade and he didn't want their brother to find out, Beckett had said that the note was from his teacher. Myles knew that Artemis didn't believe it, by the fact that as punishment Beckett was only allowed one cookie after dinner, and he had to eat all of his vegtables.

So if anything happened today, to his brother, Myles knew that he would feel it. And he prayed that nothing did happen. Because without Beckett, it would be like he didn't have any limbs. As much as they fought, the two were twins, and Fowl twins at that. They wouldn't be seperated. No matter what.

"Ready?" Beckett asked.

Myles smiled at his brother, who gave his mischevios grin in response.

"Totally."

…...

"Well, well, well. Look at what we have here." Opal said, stepping out of the car.

"You can't stop us Opal." Minerva responded to the unasked question. It wasn't said, but anyone could tell that it was lingering.

1:35

1:34

1:33

1:32

"Actually, I believe that I can." Opal replied. She snapped her fingers, and the mutants by her side opened up the door to the car, and yanked out Artemis, Holly, Rynn, and Karma.

Opal stalked around the group of hostages like a lion. Her gaze was that of a predator's. She actually thought that she was the alpha-dog. Myles could only hope that she wasn't.

"If you even think about pushing those barrels into the tunnel, I will shoot them. Or, at least, my mutants will kill them." She continued to walk in circles around the four. Four mutants lined up behind them, and pulled out guns. Even though all of them could just kill or torture the group to death, Opal had decided that it would take to long.

"Leave them alone!" Minerva shouted. But she didn't move. She stood her ground.

"Don't do anything stupid now. Only a minute left. She wouldn't actually kill them that quickly. BECKETT WILL YOU CALM DOWN!" Foaly yelled at them all through their earpieces.

"I don't think so. You see, I have waited nearly fifteen years to get my vengence. And I will have it. I WILL!" Opal screamed back. She motioned for three of the mutants to go forward. Most likely to capture them, or just hold them still as their friends were killed.

Beckett felt the magma rising from the heat on his back. Thirty seconds and counting. His mind went into over drive.

And so, despite his brother' s pleading looks, he lunged for the mutant closest to him.

_"You're so impulsive, Beckett." Myles sighed as he stuck a band aid on his brother's arm. It was another fight that Beckett had managed to pick with boys bigger than him._

_ "I know. Can you help me with it?" Beckett thought that Myles knew the answer to everything that could be solved. Myles was surprised that his brother was coming to him with social problems. Usually it was the other way around. _

_ "No. Only you can do that. And you better hope the it gets solved soon. Otherwise, you're going to get into deep trouble." Myles said._

_ And Beckett knew that it was true._

…_..._

Artemis couldn't scream as his brother lunged at the advancing mutant. He wanted to, but it got caught in his throat, and his lips parted as if he was making noise. But he wasn't.

He broke free from his captor's grasp, and sprinted towards his brothers. But everything seemed to slow down. Time raced by him, and he couldn't take it back.

Beckett smiling at him.

Beckett finger-painting a picture that hung in Artemis's office back in Pennsylvania.

Beckett eating his hamster.

Beckett and Myles getting into a fight about simple-toons.

Beckett attempting to fly.

Beckett running into the apartment crying about how he had fallen off the swings.

Beckett stuffing his face with cookies.

Beckett, Lina, Myles, and Cammie all looking guilty for who knows what.

Beckett smiling at his first all-perfect report card, nothing below an B-

Beckett had tried so hard for that perfect report card. It wasn't anything compared to Myles's, but he could care less.

"BECKETT!" The words unclogged themselves from his throat, and time sped up again. He watched the mutant pick up his brother like a doll, despite the young boy's struggles.

And then the magma flare heating up the tunnel.

The barrels of gas remaining untouched, except for the row that Myles had managed to kick as he ran towards his brother.

And the Fowl boys watched as their brother was thrown by the far more powerful mutant, straight towards the bubbling hot magma flare that already claimed some of the gas. It didn't care who it would take, just as long as it would take something.

And that something was going to be Beckett.

…**...**

** Well, well, well.**

** Here I am.**

** I know that this chapter is a week late, and I don't have an excuse except for life is busy. However, my final basketball game is this Sunday, and after that, I will only have volleyball to worry about.**

** But I will cut this note short and apologize.**

** Sorry I left you with a cliffhanger. I know, I know, somebody send Butler after me.**

** Sorry I didn't get this chapter up, but I really did try.**

** And I touched a lot on Myles and Beckett's brother relationship in this chapter because I love how cute those two kids are! They are the most adorable brother's ever. A secret is that I seriously wished that Eoin Colfer would write a spinoff series with Myles and Beckett. Or he at least could've included them a little more in the last few books! :(**

** But anyway, leave me a review.**

** Do you think Beckett's going to die?**

** Sorry for any mistakes! I wanted to get this chapter up as quickly as possible!**

** Be warned, there are only about three more chapters after this, epilogue included. I would like to finish it before March 23****rd****, but I need reviews for support! Please, please review! It supports me a lot!**

** Random Fact: Moisture, not air, causes super glue to dry!**

**Read.**

**Review.**

**Enjoy! :)**


	18. Chapter 18: The Surrender

**Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl. All rights go to Eoin Colfer**

** Hey, hey, hey! So, I'll try to get this chapter up as soon as possible. I really want to do a writing challenge for another category, so the chapters will be coming quickly!**

** I would have spent most of this fine Saturday typing, but I spent two hours trying to figure out the art of taking out contacts! My eyes now hurt! Any suggestions for taking contacts out? I'll listen to anything!**

** And by the way, please review! Thanks to Rynn Wolfe and Summer Blooms for your reviews! I'd like to see at least three reviews for this chapter if at all possible! Do realize that I am trying to include a lot of OC's in here, and the regular characters. But so far it has mostly been a Beckett, Myles, Minerva, Karma, Rynn, Foaly, Artemis and Opal type of story! So sorry about that! I'm trying to update these chapters quickly! And a special thanks to Ivy000, who commented on ALL the chapters! I had to look again to make sure I wasn't dreaming! THANK YOU SO MUCH IVY000! THANK YOU! Literally, you made my day!**

** Sorry that some of the characters' are OC, do realize that this is the first story that I have gotten this far on! And sorry for dropping some of the other character's! Do realize that I didn't learn a lot of my writing skills til I was in the middle of this story! So please forgive me! I'll try to add Mulch back in for Ivy000! :) And Spiro. I kind of made them drop of the face of the Earth... Oops... :)**

** Anyway, enough ranting! Onward with the story!**

** P.S- I no longer have practices, and my last basketball game is this Sunday, and I only have two more Volleyball games. So I should have more time to update.**

** …...**

Artemis tackled the mutant that had launched Beckett, so he didn't see the younger boy hit the rustic titanium pod. His body made a dull thud against the metal, and Myles instantly ran to his brother's side.

Artemis's fists flew in a frenzy, and he knew that there would be bruises in the morning.

If he lived till the next morning.

"Artemis! Cut it out!" Holly screamed, attempting to pry her friend off the wounded mutant.

"You're hurting him!" Karma shrieked, noticing that it was one of her and Dem's friends from the time that they were being tested. He had passed the test, but the other two hadn't been as lucky.

With the help of Karma and Rynn, Holly managed to get Artemis upright, and when he tried to lunge at the mutant, Karma and Rynn held him back. Barely.

"Artemis, go check on Beckett! We'll hold off Opal and the mutants!" Rynn shouted, and Artemis seemed stunned for a moment.

"GO!" All three girls shouted.

Artemis ran towards his younger brother and Minerva, who were all crowded around Beckett in a tight, protective circle. Artemis knelt down, forcing his way into the circle to see his brother.

"Is he okay?" Artemis asked, putting his hand on his brother's forehead. Myles let out a tiny whimper, which was unlike him, since he usually composed. A lot like his brother, who had managed to keep it together for the sake of Myles and Beckett.

"No. He's unconsious, so I can't tell how much pain he's in. But," Minerva ran her fingers over a large bump forming on the young boy's forehead. Artemis turned to Myles.

"Myles, can I have your windbreaker?" Myles nodded, and reached over to hand his brother his jacket.

Artemis pressed it against Beckett's wound, and soon it was soaked with blood. He threw the windbreaker into the empty magma tunnel with a frustrated growl.

"Dang it! It's not clotting fast enough. He's losing too much blood!" Artemis took off his own jacket, and pressed it against his brother's head, and this time the blood slowed down, but it was still going out quickly.

"He definitley has a concussion, possibly some brain trauma, a broken leg, fractured tailbone, and if he makes it he's going to have a lot of bruises in the morning." Minerva stated, returning to her scientist mode, running her fingers over Beckett to see where he was injured the most.

Artemis turned to Minerva, rage burning in his eyes. "He'll be fine! He's going to be just fine! Don't be so pessimistic!" He practically growled at his old enemy. Minerva put her hands up in defense.

"You of all people should know the truth when you see it, Artemis. This is how you used to see things once."

Artemis turned back to Beckett, whose head was being craddled in Myles's lap. "That was a long time ago. A long, long time ago. I've changed. I really have." And with that, he set to work, not noticing that there were still twelve gas barrels and a soon to be non-existant magma flare. They were running out of time just as fast as Beckett was running out of blood.

…...

Foaly was freaking out, to say the least. While he was worried for the youngest Fowl, he was also worried about the fate of Haven if those barrels weren't destroyed and Opal managed to get her hands on them. There wouldn't be another magma flare down that tunnel for another hundred years. It was a miracle and pure luck that it had decided to let loose what the officers had began calling a 'Hail Mary'. Those were some of the most powerful magma flares that had ever been felt by officers. They had began happening more and more often over the past seven years, and Foaly had reason to believe that it had something to do with Opal, but he had never been able to prove it to the council.

"Uh, guys. I hate to be the one that brings this up, especially at such a dire time, but we still have twelve barrels that need to be destroyed before Beckett's not the only one that feels Opal's creation's rage." Foaly tried to say this as nonchalantly as he possibly could, but it didn't exactly work as he planned.

"Foaly!" Minerva hissed through the mike that was planted on her neck, and Foaly heard the vibrations on full blast.

"What? I'm just asking!" Foaly shouted back, and this seemed to snatch Artemis out of whatever stupor he was in. He turned to look at the barrels, feeling his hands become sticky with Beckett's scarlet blood.

"Myles and Minerva. Quickly, go push them off and come back here." Myles was hesitant about leaving his brother, but Artemis gave him a look, shooing him off towards the massive barrels still waiting near the magma tube.

"Foaly? Any suggestions?" Artemis asked, knowing the mike would relay the message to Foaly, who quickly zoomed in with the iris-cam, making Artemis flinch.

"Sorry 'bout that, Fowl. Now, take your jacket off Beckett's head." Artemis did as he was told, peeling the soaked jacket off his brother's forehead. Foaly studied the wound on Beckett's head, and saw that the blood had slowed to almost a stop. Artemis really hadn't forgotten anything since he had left.

"What now?" Artemis began panicking. The blood had stopped, but he didn't have anything to keep him busy until Foaly told him what to do to help his brother.

"Okay. Your sweatshirt. Take off your sweatshirt, and start ripping it up into strips." Artemis hastily did as he was told, the old, worn out sweatshirt coming off his body easily. He hadn't expected anything to happen that day, so he had ditched his normal suit for a pair of jeans, his old Kiss Me I'm Irish, that Penny had gotten for him some time ago, a James Town College sweatshirt, and an old army jacket he had gotten from one of his friend's at the mechanic's shop.

"Seriously Fowl? Kiss Me I'm Irish?" Artemis growled, and ignored Foaly, who was in histerics over the shirt the Irish boy had wore, choosing instead to focus back on his younger brother.

"Just tell me what to do!" Artemis ripped part of his sweatshirt, and felt a little pain in his chest. That had been something that Penny had bought him, but he pushed it down. He needed to help his brother, not worry about something he had gotten in the past.

"Okay, wrap the strips around his head. Tightly. That should hold off the bleeding until the ambulence gets to you." Foaly replied. Artemis took the strips and began placing them over the wound. He noticed how peaceful Beckett looked in his sleep, and realized that he had partially run away because he wanted his brother to keep that peacefulness with him all of his life. But it looked like he had just made the situation worse by keeping his brother's away from the past. It wasn't something he could run from anyone. He had to embrace it, whether he liked it or not.

"Ambulence?" Artemis asked.

Foaly shrugged, and Artemis knew that he had. "I sent one out there a while ago. They should be there in a few minutes, along with some reinforcements.

"Thanks Foaly." Artemis felt his eyes water slightly at the gesture his friend had shown.

They really did care about him.

_Why did I ever want to leave? _Artemis asked himself, and instantly knew the answer. He had chosen to be selfish, because he was scared. He felt alone, terrified that he had custody over the twins.

"Don't mention it. Well, actually, after all this, you are so buying me some carrots." Foaly replied.

Artemis smiled.

"I'll buy you as many carrots as you want, Foaly." He replied, and then he heard Foaly laugh gleefully.

Then it stopped suddenly.

"Hang on. We're getting a lot of emergency calls- Holy Frod." Foaly breathed the end of the sentence out.

"Foaly? What's going on?" Artemis began to panic again, feeling it surge around him like ice.

_No. Calm down. You are Artemis Fowl. Stay calm. Everything's fine. Foaly will explain, just ask him._

"Foaly! What's going on over there?" Artemis shouted, holding a finger to his throat.

"I'm not sure Fowl, but I have to check it out. I'm sorry to leave you here, just wait until the ambulence and reinforcements get there. I'll see back in Haven, safe and sound, soon."

Artemis started to yell, but Foaly was already gone.

…...

Rynn and Karma were having the hardest battle of their lives against the mutants. And Opal firing shots at them with her experimental Neutron 5000 wasn't making it any easier.

Rynn quickly threw a punch at the nearest mutant, hiting it square in the nose, and swept it's legs out from under it. She hastily stood up and found two more mutants surrounding her.

Karma wasn't faring much better. Before she managed to hit a boy with razor sharp teeth in the gut, he had twisted her left wrist to the point where she heard a snap. That arm was mainly used to block attacks from razor-teeth, and her other hand was used to deliver punches.

Soon, both girls found themselves back-to-back, surrounded by seven mutants, all of whom had deadly weapons on their side while they were left defenseless.

"Fowl's never going to hear the end of this from me if we make it out alive." Rynn growled, and Karma laughed.

"Let's just get this over with." She replied, and both girls turned back to the battle, fists flying, legs kicking, and their laughter cackling over the crowd.

…...

Opal knew that she had to retreat. Abandon her plans, and then figure out another way to make them work. Killing Artemis Fowl was at the top her list.

_No! We will not be stopped! _Her mind screamed at her. But she knew that if she didn't stop and hide, they'd capture her. At least one of her minions had managed to make a dent in Artemis's life. Poor Beckett wouldn't make it through the night.

Quickly holstering her weapon, Opal began to run back towards the car. She slid easily in, and met Artemis's gaze, as he glared at her with enough fury to make a troll feel uneasy. But Opal didn't hesitate. She simply regained her confidence and started the car, before manuvering it onto the streets.

That was the one thing about Fowl. He let his emotions and morals get in the way. He had gotten soft over the years.

_And you haven't. _She reminded herself.

Artemis wouldn't pursue her, not while his brother was hurt. He had sent Paradizo and the other brat to go finish the job they had originally started, destroying the gas. Opal did feel a tinge of sympathy, for she had worked hard on that design. But she still had the plans back at the base, where she would go, while the LEP was caught up with the troll incident.

Pressing her high-heeled foot to the ground, the car screeched as she sped up, going as fast as the car possibly could.

And that was when she heard the sirens in the distance.

_He must have had that stupid stupid centaur call in reinforcements, and an ambulence. _Opal growled to herself. There was nowhere to turn now, and besides, they had already seen her.

_Don't give up now! Not after all we've been through! There's still a chance._

But Opal knew that there wasn't, because she had been fighting too long, failing too many times. It was time that she came to terms with what was going to happen to her, the unavoidable truth.

She was tired of fighting hopeless battles, that she didn't even need to fight! There was no chance that she was going to win. So she closed off the little voice in her head, slowed the LEP car to a stop, and got hot, dropping the Neutron 5000, and put her hands up.

"What do I say? She dropped the weapon, and has her hands up!" Opal heard one of the officers say. The ambulance didn't stay to watch the show, instead wailing off towards where Opal had just come from.

So, Opal Koboi took a deep breath, and raised her voice in front of the ten LEP officers, who all had their guns pointing at her chest.

"I surrender. I surrender." And she really meant it.

…...

**Hope this chapter was good! Happy Pi day, by the way! Sorry that this is so drastically late! I've been getting swamped with homework!**

** Anway, thanks so much to Ivy000! I really appreciate the reviews! I would like to inform you, that this is probably the second-to-last chapter, NOT including the epilgoue! So stay tuned, and make sure to review! It keeps me going, and brightens up my day! **

** I'd like only four reviews for this chapter!**

** But most of all, I really hope you enjoyed and had fun reading this chapter!**

**Random Fact: Bill Gates, the guy that invented and funds Microsoft, has an apple computer!**

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